Edit: I am entering this in the We Heart Life I Heart My Body 2011 project.
After several days feeling awfully unwell, I was so glad to be inspired by Marie Claire to give my body some love.
On their Under The Cover TV show, editor Jackie Frank posed the question:
Are we quicker to say what we love or hate about our bodies?
So many times we can say what we dislike about ourselves. Fat this. Pimply that.We should think about what you love about ourselves and rejoice.
Personally, I am happy with my body. I may be red and scaly and oily and a bit confronting looking, but I think I am beautiful and have a good, petite size 10 figure. I am that ok with my body that I considered posting a picture of me in my underwear.
I love my smile, stomach, cleavage and fingernails 🙂 My legs are also quite sexy in heels. And I actually love that my skin renews so quickly I never look old 😉
I asked my friends what they love about their bodies.
I love their responses.
M: “Always quicker to say we hate I think. Every morning I try to say three things I like about my body. I like my eyes, my neck and my hands. I appreciate my hands every day as I am a myotherapist.”
J: “I have always been quicker to hate my body, rather than to compliment it. But after recovering from Anorexia, I am learning to love it! I love my longgggg legs, they go on forever! And my lips. And I love that my eyes change colour in the sun. We need more body love.”
N: “I love my boobs, my smile, my hands, my nails, my legs. :)”
F: “my awesomely outta control hair. and green eyes – both are things that not everyone has =)”
N: “I love my boobs, my shoulders and my moles.”
T: “I love my lips and I’m gonna overshare and say I love my girly bits for giving me my boy, and my boobs for feeding him without (much) drama. The fact that they are now pendulous I like rather less…”
K: “I love my little hands, they make me feel refined and delicate. And the freckle next to my belly button :)”
L: “I love my face:)”
These answers make me so happy!
♥
What do you love about your body?
Awesome post.
I love my eye colour, and that 3 of my 4 kids share it. I have quite good legs. I love my not-socially-attractive pendulous breasts that have fed four children and continue to feed two.
I will admit I see flaws everywhere, and am having trouble coming to terms with the signs of ageing that show on my face. But I remind myself that I have lived and continue to live a fulfilling life, and that the only person passing judgement on how I look is me.
You do have killer cleavage, Miss C!
Such a good post. So here goes … I love my teeth, my hair, the colour of my eyes and my legs.
Fabulous post! A nice way to turn it around from the ever present body hate. I've never been one to hate on my body. I'm happy with what I have in general. Never grown up thinking negatively, I have my mum to thank for that. Never heard her say anything bad about herself, superficially. It just wasn't on the radar.
Heidi xo
Oh, look at all the pretty dresses you can wear with that cleavage! 😉
Great post 🙂
After many depressed teenage years hating my body (to the stage I was borderline anorexic), in my mid 20s I got to a beautiful zen stage of not caring anymore, of seeing my body as just a vessel to carry around my brain and my soul. Which is just as well because since the kids were born I lost my perfect size 10 and lots of perkiness is gone and lots of wrinkles are here…
But these are the things I like the most: my calves/ankles/feet ensemble look great when I wear a skirt and heels (not that that happens anymore…); I love my right hand and wrist and fingers, more so because they're the only ones I have; I like my ears, my eyes, my neck, my eyebrows. And I love that even if my tummy is a bit squishy and roundish, I don't have stretch-marks on it 🙂
Being a Leo I LOVE my hair! Also giving my eyes, my ankles and my stomach some body love 🙂
P.s you look like a little doll in that white dress – so pretty!
L
xx
Like I said on Twitter, I love my strong body. I have been going to the gym now regularly for over a year and doing weights and I am so much stronger now then ever. So I love that 🙂
PS – you do have great pins!!
Gorgeous post. I love your body. You always look so freaking hot!
I like fingers, well in photos I do, they look long. xx
I like my hair even though it curls and waves any way it wants to instead of sitting smoothly, I like my eyes, my lips, my legs and I like my bum which isn't tiny, but isn't huge either.
This is so true – we need more body love in our lives! I like my hands & fingers for being dextrous, my legs for looking awesome and my brain for being made of win.
love this post!
I love my legs, they're long and lean and look hot in heels!
So true that we focus on our flaws. I could go on about what I dislike about myself forever but time for some body love…
I love my eye colour, my long eye lashes, my collar bones, my back, my bum and my petite waist. 🙂
Great post Carly.
You are right about us always focusing on the bits we dont like … from now on I am going to take a good look and focus on the good bits only. Thank you!
lol! Nice photos!
It's funny that the things I like (I won't say love cos I'm not quite there yet :)) about myself now are things that I once hated. I used to hate my bum and thighs because it seemed too big, but now I think they're great – I think a lot of that is owed to singers/actors/other famous people being appreciated for those assets, rather than derided these days.
I also used to hate having a wide, round face and wanted a perfect oval face. I have come to appreciate my face shape.
I am slowly growing to like my lips, I think they're ordinary and too thin but my husband adores them and I get comments on them a lot, I don't understand why still but I'm learning to accept them 🙂
Brilliant post Carly 🙂 x
For me what do i like about my (body)my hands ,my boobs,my eyes,ears.
Really i dont like that much but should and need to focus on all the good not the bad right!? xxx
I love my eyes, my hair and my legs and your smile 🙂
Carly, I don't think I have seen a pic where you are not looking glam and smiley, of everyone I have ever seen you look most comfortable with who you are, exactly as you are, and I have nothing but admiration for you 🙂
I love my boobs, my smile and my feet 🙂
Thanks for joining in.
Great post!
I posted about three things I loved in my own post on my personal blog.
Carly
Hmmm, I guess I focus a lot on what I hate about my body. But I do like my legs I guess, they are strong and quite muscly and get me where I need to go. And you young lady, do have a beautiful figure and the most stunning smile!
I remember meeting you last year and thinking to myself, damn she has a rocking body!! xx
What I wouldn't give for your boobies and legs Carly 🙂
Carly, this is so great. I love that you posted the responses from your friends about what they loved about their bodies. And you are truly gorgeous – inside and out. x
This is so inspriring.
You have a gorgeous smile. You should include that. You also have kind eyes. And I agree with the legs and clevage. Can't really see your fingernails, but I bet they're fabulous too!
I agree with the cleavage, definitely hotness. And the legs look great on those heels.
You have a beautiful figure & killer legs!
Xx
Sara
http://Www.tisthelife.com
It is such an inspiration that someone can overlook their negative points and skip straight to the good stuff! You have killer legs, and the best smile that I have seen in a long time. You should be as proud as you can be from this post! Thank you for joining in!
You have such a gorgeous smile!
Thanks so much for joining in Carly.
You are so beautiful and your smile is truly magnificent.
~Sass (weheartlife)
Awesome post Carly. I love my legs and my eyebrows and my boobs. x
Your legs DO look amazing in those heels!