Guest Post: Positive Body Image!!

Hey bombshell's! I have an awesome post for you all. I'm busy packing and whatnot for my trip tomorrow and thought this would be a great Monday motivation post. Heather's blog is one of my new favs and I love her posts about being postive to our bodies! So I asked her to share one! Hope you all enjoy it & make sure to show her some love her and on her blog!!

...............

Hello from Heather at Run like a G! (link to runlikeag.blogspot.com) where I blog about my running and other life adventures!
Precious asked me to be a guest on her blog and share one of my posts about positive body image!
Every Thursday on my blog I like to post about being positive to our bodies.
The reason I started this series was because I have grown up around people who are unhappy with their body.
Our body is a gift.
Our body is a beautiful thing.
We shouldn't get mad at our body.
It does so much for us!
I hope you enjoy this post!
Thanks again to Precious for allowing me to share my story on her blog!
Keep Running like a G! :)

This post was inspired by my sister's boyfriend!

When my sister and I went running together last week she was telling me a story -
Her boyfriend asked her how come I am not "skin and bones" since I am runner.
My sister was confused and said "what do you mean?"
He said "I thought all runners were like skin and bones, I was just curious."

My reply to this...
Not all runners live in a size zero frame.
I quoted the famous Cori at Olive to Run. (link to olivetorun.com)

I am going to share my "weight" story with you.

I honestly have never worried about the number on the scale.
I was always a size 12/14 and it never bothered me.
Sure, there were days where nothing fit and I would look in the mirror and maybe call myself a "cow" or "rhino."
But I actually never believed it.

I never weighed myself either.
We didn't have a scale at home.
The first time I went to the gyno, they weighed me.
I weighed 125 pounds.
Fast forward a couple of years and I weighed 175 pounds.
Did the number freak me out?
No, not really.

In 2011, JG and I moved in together, and so did his scale.
One day for giggles I decided to step on the scale.
I burst into tears.
The number read 180 pounds.
The thoughts that were going around in my head...
I was screaming at myself.
How did I let this happen?

That year I had also purchased a dress for our engagement/house warming party.
The only size that would fit me in the store was a size 16.
I was devastated and I think slightly disgusted with myself.
 

The size 16 dress...

The voice in the back of my head kept saying:
"It's okay, it's only a number."
Yes, your weight is only a number.
You shouldn't let it define you.
I had never let it define me before why start now?

I did start working out and running, but it only lasted a couple of weeks until I gave in and stopped.
Finally the end of 2011/beginning of 2012, my sister and I discovered some health issues on my father's side.
My sister and I found out that one of his brother's had died due to heart problems.
My grandmother, his mother, had died from heart problems.
My grandfather, his father, had died from cancer.

My weight just wasn't a number anymore.
It was a health problem.

Slowly but surely I stared to work out and before I knew it, I went from a size 14 pants to a size 12.
Before I knew it I weighed 164 pounds.

I honestly could not see the difference but everyone around me could.
My fitness was on and off again until September 2, 2012 when I really buckled down and started running.
I started to run for so many reasons - my happiness, health, and myself.

In the beginning of this year I decided to weigh myself once a month.
My overall goal was to weigh 140 pounds by April/beginning of summer.
In February I reached 157 pounds.
I was so happy.
I couldn't believe that I made it into the 150s.
The following months I stayed constant and then finally in April I decided to stop weighing myself.

Why?
Because I didn't want that number on the scale to define me.
I didn't want to pressure myself every month.
I didn't want to have a bad week and then be like "oh crap! I have to weigh in in 5 days, better start eating apples everyday."
I wanted to be fit for me.
I wanted to be happy with my body.

I am happy with my body.
Some days I still have "bad days" where nothing fits but I know I am stronger than I was in 2011.
(My size 12s are getting looser and I can fit into a size 10 but I have some muffin top) 
I don't know if I am in the 150s again, the last time I weighed myself I was back around 163.
I thought it would bother me, but it didn't.
Weight is just a number.

I am not skin and bones.
I am healthy, happy, and a runner.
I am happy with how I look.
That is all that matters.

We have to spread positivity about our bodies and elude that positivity to others.

We need to be role models for young girls.

We need to show them that all women are beautiful regardless of their size.

xoxo, Preshii