Hello! I got home super late last night after a cross country flight and drive from LAX to home in OC. I was very tired when my alarm went off to run. But, I had an appointment and a lot of work to do so I crawled out of bed and pulled on my running capris… when they RIPPED. Fantastic.
Between the fact that I was tired, stressed AND my leg just busted my pants open – this was a perfect opportunity to lose my sht and feel bad about myself.
I’m probably getting fat. I haven’t been running well. I’m so tired. Why bother running? I’m still gaining weight and getting slower with every run… FML.
I had two options in the face of this weight gain reality check:
A.) Make myself feel like crap about it and wallow in self pity all day.
or
B.) Just realized stuff like this happens and move on with my life.
Yes, I did B. It happens. It’s happened to me before. But good things happen to me too. And it’s not the end of the world.
But in case you want to go with ‘A ‘the next time something makes you feel self-conscious or unattractive or fat or whatever I have complied a list of ways to help ya…
How To Make Yourself Feel Like Shit About Your Body:
1. Try to squeeze into clothes that are too small for you.
Anyone else insist on keeping ‘skinny jeans’ aka jeans that only fit you after a 15 day flu or a break up or crash diet in their closet?
Trying to slip into your high school sized clothes that you wore before puberty?
Choose a style that is too short or long or tight for your body type?
Well, you can keep doing that and feel bad every morning when you try to squeeze them on OR
you can buy and wear clothes that fit you well and make you feel good!
2. Weigh yourself after a day of over eating or when you’re bloated…
I’m not a big fan of the scale so I avoid it, but it can be a good tool to keep track of your weight if that is the measurement you like to use BUT you should pick one day a week (or month) that you weigh yourself.
Being a slave to the scale can be an emotional roller coaster if you are prone to water weight fluctuations (especially after big meals or time of month). And definitely don’t set yourself up for a crappy day by weighing yourself when you know it’s probably up because of a particular meal or something that would make it climb.
3. Scroll through Instagram and compare your food to what other people eat.
’s.
People share very specific, thought-out snippets of their lives on social media. The day to day boring stuff isn’t exciting enough to make the cut. But the most healthy and least healthy options usually are the food pics you see (things green smoothies or donuts).
Unless you follow someone around all day you really have no idea what, how much or why they eat what they do. And really, it isn’t your body so it shouldn’t matter. Do you.
![how to feel bad about yourself 1jpg[4]](https://runeatrepeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/how-to-feel-bad-about-yourself-1jpg4.gif "how to feel bad about yourself 1jpg[4]")
4. Compare your body to someone’s on the internet, TV or in a magazine.
It NEVER helps you to compare how you look to how someone else looks. Your body, your needs, your life is different.
Don’t compare your Chapter 1 to someone else’s Chapter 12.
5. Starve yourself or Binge Eat.
Feel bad about your body?
You know what would help? Starving yourself. No?
How about feeding yourself until you are numb? No?
![why am i fat[3]](https://runeatrepeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/why-am-i-fat3.gif "why am i fat[3]")
Okay.
Maybe you should feed yourself delicious healthy foods and treat your body well. Your body is good to you, be good to it.
![i love me[3]](https://runeatrepeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/i-love-me3.gif "i love me[3]")
That little gif at the end is too cute! I wish I saw myself the way others see me :-\
The best thing someone told me was “don’t compare your outsides to other peoples insides” That mostly corresponds to life (and less about body love).
Great post! I’m usually pretty hard on myself in moments like that, but I’m trying to change. I recently took a leadership class for work and the instructor recommended we look in the mirror every morning and say “Hello gorgeous!”.
Needed to read this today. Have been slowly, but steadily gaining weight, despite eating healthy and running, weight training, elliptical on my days off from running, etc…I have been feeling crappy and taking it out on my self-esteem. 6 pounds in two weeks…what the hay!? Need to focus, consistently journal what I’m eating, and give myself a break. I know this. Thanks for the reminder.
You are a fantastic runner and motivator. I know that we all have our days, but you have a following of people who love reading up on you and your adventures. Anytime I mosey over to CA or you to MD, I would love to meet up! Redhead runners unite! 🙂
AI yai…sometimes we can be so cruel to ourselves! It’s better to wake up thinking positive thoughts<3
http://www.thebeccalynn.com
This is an amazing post, Monica!!! I’m down 85 lbs. Sometimes it’s a little more and sometimes’ it’s a little less. And when I go from 85 lbs. to 82 lbs, I start stressing out. I hate the way the scale fluctuates from one day to the next and I’ve had to force myself to only weigh myself once / week. So much of your post resonates with me. I mean, I do these things to myself when I’m feeling down. It doesn’t even have to be when I’ve had a bad day or week nutritionally, just when I’m having a bad day or week or going through something stressful. I do whatever I can to torture myself. I’m going to mark this as one of my favorite entries and go back to it in the future because I need the reminder to knock it off. Thank you, Monica!
Your cat is saying…”Whoever made those pants is an idiot and doesn’t know how to sew, get new pants”.
I love your posts. xo
Oy, been choosing option A far too often recently. OK, from now on, we work on choosing option B. Heck, I have a wedding to plan and, depending on how things shake out at work (rumors the company may be sold) I may be back on the job hunt and my interview clothes don’t really fit at the moment eeep.
Thanks, Monica – this post was perfectly timed!
GREAT post!
I often get down on myself. It’s really not helpful and makes matters worse. Recently I started turning negative self-talk in positive. When I want to say, ” you’re so fat, stupid, etc..” I change it to “you’re confident” “you’re beautiful” “you’re intelligent.”
It really works.
Very informative, i like it and the memes kinda funny
I regularly have to have an insta-cull where I remove everyone making me bad about myself. I now remember two things ‘I like my food hot rather than pretty.’ and ‘I also looked like that in leggings when I was 21’. Repeat until the chocolate cravings stop.
Such a great post! I went through a period where all my clothes were splitting – I was beating myself up about my body…but then it turned out we had moths…! But even if it had been weight gain – so what?! It’s so important just to love ourselves as we are at this moment! Thanks for the great post x
Today- so far, so good. The mean girl in my subconscious can be pretty loud sometimes, but today she’s quiet.
I’m sorry you had a rough morning. I hope your day turns around!
At least once a week I have to do an insta-cull of people who make me feel rubbish about myself. My mantra now is ‘remember, you like your food hot not pretty’ and ‘they are 21, you looked like that in leggings in 21’. Repeat until chocolate craving passes.
Great post, this one really speaks to me… I have trouble wearing my jeans at the minute, but I know that if I keep running and eating a bit better they will start to fit me again. At the minute I am worried that when I walk upstairs they will burst…. I mostly wear tracksuit bottoms at the minute with an elastic waist, which are far more forgiving… 🙂
Love this it came at a point where I’m feeling down this wee about a lot if things and sometimes it’s ok to feel bad about yourself and then pick yourself up and move on!
Great post, Monican! And I love that pic of Vegas — you can see he is kneading!
Such a great post, Monica. This is exactly why I look at your blog every day, I don’t want to miss posts when you keep it real. Thank you.
I’m pretty hard on myself today. Got reamed out by my bosses today at work for a mistake and basically can’t stop crying. Debated between starving myself or binging, but decided to be (mostly) healthy. Too embarrassed to talk to my irl friends. Decided to post about it on a blog instead.
It’s easy a great day.
hope you feel better today! its a new day 🙂
Hope your Saturday is better than your Friday was. I hate days like that. Be strong and don’t kick yourself while you’re down. You only make yourself feel worse.
So been there. And crying at work…that always makes me feel small and unprofessional adding to the ~could this day BE any more horrible?~ (I’m channeling Chandler…say that ten times fast). We’ve all been there so I hope you were able to shake some of that awful off, do some good things for yourself this weekend and are ready to face a new week. I hope your week is great!