Most people have insecurities, and sometimes those self-doubts can affect even the most confident people. When you find that your insecurities are negatively impacting your daily life, it’s time to take action. Here are a few simple lifestyle changes that can help you manage the overwhelming emotions and get you back on track to living your best life.
Set goals
One of the first steps to loving the body you’re in is identifying your insecurities and considering ways to overcome them. Maybe you have an issue with how much you weigh or how you look in the mirror. Wherever your insecurities may lie, work towards improving them if possible. Sometimes all it takes is a little consistency and dedication to get you where you’d like to be. Looking healthy can be the confidence and self-esteem booster that you need sometimes to get yourself out of a rut.
Some general health goals you can set for yourself to improve insecurities regarding your body are:
- Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet
- Creating a workout routine to suit your needs
- Saying positive affirmations in the mirror
- Cutting down on alcohol and other substances
- Reducing fast food intake
- Increasing how much water you drink
Your job is to personalize those basic health goals and create something that will help you on your journey of loving your body. Adding numbers to this list and setting times for which you’d like to accomplish the goals can help put things in motion. For example, saying “I will exercise for 30 minutes 4 times this week and have my alcohol intake down by next month” can make things feel more concrete. To track your progress, try using a fitness app and setting goals accordingly.
Take care of your health
It’s easier to love your body if it’s running properly. If you’re constantly experiencing things like low energy, dizziness, or nausea, it can feel like your body is working against you, resulting in a negative view of it. Taking measures like exercising and taking care of your mental health can help to combat some of those symptoms and ultimately improve your view of your body.
When most people think of exercise, they immediately picture the gym and its monotony. While the gym is nice, there are other ways to get your workout in. Switch things up a bit by trying something like biking. There are many benefits to biking and it doesn’t require much to start. Once you become more familiar with it, you can enter biking events to connect with like-minded people and add a competitive edge.
Exercising can be a great stress reliever and improve your mental health as well. Working out can release endorphins and give you an outlet for your daily frustrations. Exercising isn’t always a cure-all though, so if you find that you’re still struggling mentally even after working out, consider joining an online therapy service with support groups. This may help you determine if there’s a bigger issue or just give you additional people to talk to.
Don’t compare
Social media makes it very easy to compare yourself to others. Constantly seeing celebrities, health influencers or people that you know look flawless can have you drowning in self-doubt. If your self-doubt continues without reprieve, you may experience self-esteem problems and ultimately mental health issues.
This is why it’s important for you to follow people who make you feel better about yourself rather than the opposite. There’s absolutely no problem following celebs, influencers, etc. as long as they’re people who are honest about their journeys. Following individuals who work hard to achieve their goals can serve as motivation for you instead of being a source of doubt.
Unfollow anyone who makes you feel bad about yourself. You can always follow them again later when you’re up to it. In the meantime, there are tons of self-love accounts on Instagram to give you motivation on your own journey.
Find beauty in uniqueness
At the end of this all, it’s important to realize that there is beauty in what you consider flaws. Your “flaws” are what make you unique, and there will never be another person with the same birthmark, mole, body, or mind as you. There’s a reason why some of the best models are the ones with a gap between their teeth, a mole on their cheek or skin unlike most.
Being perfect is nice, but it’s relative. Someone’s perfect is someone else’s imperfect. Realizing that the only person who needs to love the way you look is you is one of the most important parts of self-love.
Once you achieve that, you’ll be unstoppable.