Guest Post: Love Yourself Right Now

Ever wake up and, while getting dressed, determine that you're just not skinny enough or pretty enough? Ever wake up and deem the day a fat one? Who doesn't do this? It happens, right? Why? Because we're dang hard on ourselves. But we shouldn't be. We don't have to be. Those negative thoughts can and should be replaced, but that's easier said than done. We are, after all, completely human. And this is why I love Shannon so much. We met at BlogHer and her approach to life is so honest and real that it's infectious in the best way possible. Girl loves herself some soft serve and isn't afraid to admit it. She also knows what it takes to live a happy, healthy and balanced life. You can read about this on her blog, Skinny Sometimes. But today, she's here to discuss the above. She's here to help you love yourself right now.

Hi everyone! I'm Shannon, from Skinny Sometimes and I was thrilled when Tara reached out to me to do a guest post while she studies for her exam. Tara and I share similar opinions when it comes to living a balanced lifestyle so it was clearly fate we met during our very first session at BlogHer.

Striving for physical perfection can be dangerous not only to our physical health, but emotional health too. There is absolutely no reason you can't love yourself exactly how you are right at this moment as you are reading A Daily Dose Of Fit.

It's perfectly acceptable to want to be healthier, but we often set unrealistic goals and beat ourselves up about not being perfect on our way to obtain those goals. It is okay to LIKE yourself as you strive to make physical improvements. I know, this sounds difficult, but that's why I love daily affirmations.

I first fell in love with affirmations about seven years ago while I was working on my anxiety and OCD issues. They have since helped me develop a healthy relationship with food and a positive body image and now I just can't get enough. At first, it doesn't seem like they are going to work, but remember, it takes 21 days of doing something to form a habit. If you stick with the affirmations, you will catch yourself being nice to yourself without even trying. Then you will smile to yourself and say "hey! it IS working!"

Affirmations are easy to fit into your life. I say affirmations when:
1. I'm commuting to and from work.
2. I'm waiting in line.
3. I'm trying to relax my mind and fall asleep.

Here are 5 affirmations I love and why:

This is a great affirmation when you're feeling insecure. It's your choice to love the body you have right now (don't forget it).

It's so easy to forget we are all 3 of these. This one personally helps me build my self-confidence. I love to repeat it over and over again when I'm nervous or I'm dwelling on a past mistake.

We forget how fortunate we are to be able to exercise and to walk this earth. This affirmation is such a reality check for me. It reminds me to quit my whining and start counting my blessings.

Think about other people you treat with respect. Would you put them down the way you put yourself down? Let me answer that for you: NO.

The only person who can control how you feel about yourself is you. Take advantage of that and remind yourself every that you love who you are.

Don't wait until you're in a funk to start saying affirmations. The above affirmations are easy to memorize (that's me telling you to memorize them right now). Start saying them a few days daily and in a few weeks you'll see an improvement. You are strong, smart and beautiful, but don't sit around waiting to hear it from someone else.

Tell yourself now.

Question: What are your daily affirmations?