Reminder to Self: Stop being so negative!

Women are hard on each other; and on ourselves. I’m sure there are others like me; women who look in the mirror and have to pick at every little imperfection that we see glaring back at us in the mirror. I’m 28, turning 29 later on this year, and it seems like every time I’ve looked in the mirror since January I see a new line in my face. Seriously, when did I start to get lines around my eyes? How do they just appear like that? In addition to the onset of “laugh lines” I’ve realized I’m not really ever going to get my 23-year old body back. Which is hard, since I have friends who ARE 23, and remind me of that every time I’m around them and their perfectly line-free faces and skinny jeans – and sometimes, it’s just hard to be positive.

I like to fancy myself positive most of the time; but every once-in-awhile I blurt out something negative like I did earlier this week to my husband; our conversation went something like this:

B (my hubby) to me, after seeing the below picture on the cover of my Women’s Health Magazine:  “So baby, are you going to cook with a bikini and little apron on tonight?”

Me:  <sarcastic grunt> “Um, no, not until I’m a size 2.”

B:  “I don’t want a size 2.  I just want all of this.” (He then proceeds to give me a hug and then grab my butt, which he insists is my best feature.) 

Sometimes it’s hard for me to realize that my husband still finds me attractive, especially since I’ve been struggling to lose the few pounds I gained since we got married almost five years ago (15…but whose counting?)  Then, out of the blue, he says something sweet like he did above, without even thinking about what kind of positive impact it has on me.  It really made me realize that I am too hard on myself.  I’m healthy, I’m fit (My trainer doesn’t have any other clients – including her male ones – that can do 85 reps on the weight bench, so take that!) and my husband loves it.  I don’t have to be a tiny pant size in order for him to appreciate what I look like physically.

I think we all should remind ourselves that there are tons of guys out there who don’t want stick-thin girlfriends or wives, and they probably appreciate your body more than even you might.  It’s time for us to start being more accepting, and more forgiving, of our own bodies.