Summer Self-Care Tips For Body Positivity

Hey loves! Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July, even though this country is turning into a giant tire fire as of late. I am--not well. Well, I'm not feeling my best self lately. I had a mini-relapse over the last few weeks and ended up buying Weight Watchers (fun fact: I've been on and off weight watchers since I was 4) and let me tell you, it's been horrible. Diet programs are very much like abusive relationships: they make you feel terrible and worthless but it's almost impossible for you to leave. I've just been dealing with a lot of insecurity issues. I've been writing a lot about my illness lately and then I look at my body and see myself eating and I think I don't look thin enough to have an ED, and just a lot of bad thoughts.  Summer is my absolute favorite season, but it is also the season the brings up my body dysmorphia. So I'm dealing with that. It's a thing.

The term "body positivity" has been really charged lately, due to different groups thinking they have a better claim to it. Recently actress and body positivity advocate Lili Reinhart was slammed by Twitter trolls saying that she was "too thin to be insecure about her body", ignoring the fact she has body dysmorphia. Plus size people have been attacking eating disorder recovery blogs for using the #bodypositivity hashtag because they are "thin" and have privilege bodies.

This deeply bothers me because it implies that eating disorders are privileges, which they are not. Eating disorders are illnesses that have the highest mortality rate than any other mental illness. People die from eating disorders every day. Eating disorder bodies, whatever they look like, are marginalized bodies.  Our bodies look like this because we did terrible things to them. It's 2018, I don't know why there's still a debate about the validity of eating disorders. Eating disorders are real: deal with it.

Ugh!

Anyway, so today I've made a list of summertime self-care tips to help give you a boost of body positivity this summer!

• Where What Make YOU Feel Comfortable 

I see a lot of captions and post on social media about "All bodies are bikini bodies" and while that's 100% true, please don't feel like you need to force yourself into something that your not comfortable in right now, just for the sake of someone else's view on body positivity. I love swimming, I swim every single day that it is not raining, so I usually spend my days in a swimsuit. Until recently all I own our bikini's, but it's been so hard for me to wear them because my stomach has just been bothering me lately. I ended up picking up a few really cute $7 one-piece swimsuits from Wal-Mart and I feel so much better. Find what works for you and own it! 

• Hydrate 

I know this advice may sound lame, but hydrating is not only super important in the summer, but it's a super easy way of taking care of your body this summer. Show it some love but giving it water. If your not a fan of plain H20, try coconut water or Sparking Ice which is what I've been drinking this summer. (Cherry Lime is the BOMB fam) 

• Engage in Summer Activities That You Enjoy 

If you're anything like me, you LIVE on your Instagram, or more accurately, on it when you're bored. If you are on Instagram or any social media for that matter, you may feel like EVERYONE and their grandmother is engaging in summer fun: going to the beach, going on trips, wearing cute little bathing suits. You may start feeling like you're not doing enough when that is just false. For all you those were taken a month ago and they're reposting them for a month straight (I know I'm guilty of that). Don't try to mimic what other people are doing just because it's "summer". If you don't like going to the beach or swimming, do some of your favorite activities like reading, or watching Netflix in air conditioning. Make it your own! It's your summer. 

• Remember That Feelings Are Only Temporary 

This is something that I'm really struggling with at the moment but nothing is permanent, not your bad thoughts, not your feelings about your body, not even the summer. You just need to remember that how you feel about your body or yourself is only for a moment, and it will just eventually. Just hold on, take a deep breath, and let it go. It will be okay. Or, do what I like to do when I have bad thoughts: say "not today Satan" and keep on going. 

• Create Things 

Creating things is the perfect escape from bad body image. Legit creating anything will make you feel better: mood boards, playlist, friendship bracelets, chaos for the patriarchy, art, really anything. Making something is a nice reminder that your body is capable of so many great things. 

That's it for my loves! What are some of your self-care tips for the summer? Please tell me, I NEED to know. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and check out my writing website if you want to read my "professional" writing, or if you want to hire me to write for you! 

Stay Stylin' 

Elle