#3 Curate Inspiring Social Media

Today, I want you to clear out body-shame triggering accounts from your social media and fill it up with body-positive content that actually supports you to feel sexy and secure in your own body.

Trust me, you'll have plenty of other opportunities to practice "getting over" your body shame triggers without piling onto them with totally unnecessary social media sources.

I know it might feel petty. I know you might judge yourself, and wonder "is this really necessary? Can I really not handle following this person because I'm so insecure?"

I have unfollowed a friend from elementary school, and a couple acquaintances from high school, and a handful of other people, because every time I saw certain kinds of posts from them, it triggered pretty intense body/beauty envy.

At the time, I felt petty and weak for not being able to "handle" it, but my god, what a relief. I'm so glad I did.  

We have a unique opportunity in this age of constant media consumption to customize and curate the media we consume.

We can fill our feeds and inboxes with a glorious spectrum of diverse people who love their bodies, and body-positive messages that lift us up and keep us connected to truths that empower us to be the people we want to be. Why not take full advantage of that opportunity??

It's easy to think that following people you wish you looked like will help motivate you to eat better and go to the gym more, etc.  We think keeping our eye on people who look how we want to look inspires us to be better, and it's worth feeling down on ourselves for.  But if that were true...

...wouldn't you "be better" by now with all the inspirational "getting down on yourself" that you've endured?

What's more likely happening is that, when you seek out images or other media or people who represent what you think you "should" look like, you're just reinforcing beliefs about who you are (not) and what you (don't) deserve into your subconscious.

Remember what you learned in Strategy #2 about the subconscious?  It won't let us have what we believe we don't deserve.

If you really want something, you've got to get to work on your worthiness around it.

What actually might help you become the most attractive version of yourself is learning to send loving energy to yourself consistently, every day. There is scientific evidence that self-love can literally make us more attractive.

Dr. Masura Emoto -- a Japanese scientist and water researcher -- demonstrated through high speed photography of thousands of water crystals that beautiful water crystals are formed when they are exposed to the words "love and gratitude."

In contrast, water exposed to negative words (e.g. "You make me sick") formed crystals with incomplete, asymmetrical patterns and dull colors.

Consider the fact that the human body is 70% water, and you'll see how self-love (or lack thereof) can impact our bodies in a very direct way.

To the extent that you can control it, design your environment -- digital and physical -- to make self-love as easy for you as possible.

It doesn't make you petty or weak.  It just means you aren't going to spend time trying to recover from triggering content that you could easily avoid and not have to deal with.

Cuz you're smart like that. And you love yourself (or are trying to!).

Now go smash those unsubscribe buttons 😉

Body-positive Instagram accounts to follow

  • @sonyareneetaylor - author of The Body is Not an Apology
  • @lizzobeeating -- So much body-love / self-love / booty-twerking fabulousness!
  • @kenziebrenna -- a delightful, insightful human with so much compassion to offer around weight, body image, and mental health
  • @demetra_nyx_ -- she's documenting her eating disorder recovery journey and the way she's embracing weight gain and her changing body is so powerful. I've never seen ANYONE so devoted to trusting the hunger of her own body and it is beautiful to witness.
  • @bigboysarecute -- great body-positive account for men!
  • @meganjaynecrabbe -- a ray of sunshine who embraces her soft body and fantastic dance moves
  • @love_disfigure -- a burn victim who advocates for body-positivity around skin differences like scarring, vitiligo, acne, and lots of other diversity among bodies
  • @shauna_murdie -- self-love and body-positivity advocate sharing her journey with acne
  • @iris.apfel -- an eccentric and delightful old lady that will inspire you with new fashion goals 😉
  • @theeverymanproject -- a visual conversation about diversity among men
  • @gabifresh -- hella cute & charming plus-size fashion model
  • @aaron__philip -- Black, trans, disabled model who is revolutionizing the fashion industry, breaking every rule, and liberating us all in the process
  • @and.bloom -- badass collection of women aging unapologetically, rockin' impeccable style, grace, sensuality, playfulness, and beauty
  • @silverstrandsofglitter - a woman's photo journal of her grey hair transition

Who am I missing??

Who inspires YOU to feel more confident and self-expressed in your own body??  Share in the comments!

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