It is amazing to me how good days and bad days are capable of affecting my self-image. Not long ago I woke up feeling confident and comfortable in my skin.  I was feeling good all day and then it came time to train.  I had a great lifting section, I felt strong and sexy, and felt like I could do anything. On successful days like this I don’t care about my self image. In fact, I don’t even think about it.  When I am strong I don’t care what I look like or what others think about how I look. I feel free. 

 

The next day of training didn’t go so well. I missed a few of my lifts and it threw my training session into a tailspin.  My husband was in the gym and was taking some photos of my squats to post on my Instagram. I hated them. I couldn’t stand the way that I looked. I went from a few missed lifts to questioning how fit I truly was and questioning how I looked. I began to think I wasn’t strong and couldn’t possibly look fit. 

 

This way of thinking is clearly a problem. When I don’t perform well it kills my self-confidence and negatively affects my self-image. The truth is I am not always going to have perfect lifts or even great lifting days for that matter.  Training in the gym is not always going to be success after success. It can be a series of ups and downs. 

 

It doesn’t make sense and it certainly isn’t productive to get upset, down on myself, and have a negative self-image just because my training is off for a day.  

 

I find It’s a real problem that many women I train encounter. They let their performance in the gym affect their body image and how they feel about their appearance. I tell them that “feeling strong” and “confident” shouldn’t waver because of a bad training day.  They are two completely different things. Easier said than done though I suppose. 

 

When it comes to the bigger picture women should feel confident in our bodies no matter what. Whether we are bloated, 10 pounds heavier than we feel we should be, our pants are too tight, have stretch marks, or if we have a bad day of lifting we should still love ourselves.  We shouldn’t feel embarrassed to take our shirts off if we get too hot or be worried what other people are thinking. We should have nothing but confidence in our bodies and in our abilities. We all want to feel sexy but the truth is that there is nothing sexier than self-confidence. Nothing feels better. 

 

And here’s the thing, if we don’t truly love ourselves It’s always going to be something. There’ll always be something to find that we don’t like about ourselves. If we’re insecure about our stomach, and we lose weight, we will then hate our thighs.  If we had a mole on our face, and get it removed, then we will hate our nose. If we aren’t confident from the inside out, then we will be in a never ending spiral. 

 

Learn to love yourself. Self-love is the hardest kind of love. Finding Self-acceptance and self-love is a life long journey. It’s a journey worth being on though. 

 

Stop the negativity and start embracing who you are and love yourself for who you really are. Isn’t it time you love the person who matters most?