Being body positive isn't always as easy as it sounds. These photos you may think I may of felt confident in myself whilst them being taken, but I've never felt more exposed and uncomfortable, even though I have nothing to be ashamed of. My body has got me through everything in life, whether it's physically or emotionally, my body has grown through life so I should love my body for what it is, and you should too. Especially since we have gone through an entire worldwide pandemic with our bodies, and look at us! We are still here. In this post, I'm going to walk you through how I try to stay body positive whilst living with IBS.
The lovely luxury handmade lingerie and quality nightwear brand Identity Lingerie sent me out this beautiful navy blue silk underwear set and dressing gown for this post and its my first time shooting lingerie so it was a pleasure to have a a small independent business who cares for the environment to work with on this post about body positivity. They do lots of lovely different styles of under as well as nightwear. They even do face masks handmade also. Shop the pieces here:
Starting off with IBS, if you aren't familiar with it, the term is Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which from my experience can be rather uncomfortable at times and can affect how my stomach works. Especially when going out for dinner or just eating a regular meal or even drink. Most days I wake up and my stomach will be fine and flat, but as soon as I eat breakfast depending on what it is, bread is usually the worst where I get so bloated. Being bloated can really affect my mental state, how I feel and how I see my body. If you have IBS you will completely understand, seeing yourself bloated in the mirror really puts a downer on your mood and how you see your body, but the main thing I do try and think of when I get like that is, it's only temporary because I've eaten and my body is trying to digest the food I've consumed.
So how do I stay positive living with IBS, of course I have my up and down days, as we all do as we are all human. But wearing comfortable clothing like bloat friendly dresses, wearing jeans that aren't too tight around my stomach, and eating foods that don't cause my IBS to flare up - if you are interested I could talk more about my eating habits with IBS in another post, let me know in the comments. IBS also can flare up if I'm too stressed or anxious would you believe, so not only does food play a part, my stress and anxiety levels play apart in the whole process. So trying to stay calm and not get too stressed helps.
Staying positive within your body all starts with your mindset, positive mindset, positive thoughts about your body. Nourishing your body with good food, clothes that make you feel confident but comfortable and taking care of yourself. And don't be so hard on yourself with what you eat, be healthy but enjoy yourself and feed your IBS with the good stuff that doesn't give you a flare up.
Don't let your IBS rule your mind - hope this post has helped in some way! Let me know if a part two you would be interested in on what I try to avoid and also fill my gut with in the comments.
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