I Heart My Body 2012

This is my third year participating in We Heart Life's I Heart My Body campaign.

The first time, with a headless, outdated preggo belly shot, and the second time completely starkers with a strategically placed toddler covering my nudie bits. I felt amazingly empowered after participating the last two times so I just had to do it again.

A month ago I started to take care of myself (took my time, right?). I've been eating better and have even been attempting to push through the whole boring chronic pain thing to walk places. Granted it is at such a slow pace that Mavis and Gladys overtake me on their Zimmer frames and any cardiovascular benefits are moot, but that's completely beside the point. The point is I'm trying (I'm very trying). And it's working. I feel better.

This week I had a little heath scare. It's more "annoying and expensive" than "life and death". Almost a year to the day when I asked if it would take such a thing for me to start looking after myself. So, yeah. Fabulous timing, body, thanks for that. But I'm using it as motivation to keep going with what I've been doing and not lose sight of why I'm doing it... because I want my body to be healthy. Because we all realize relying on my mind to be healthy is just not feasible.

So do I love my body? Yeah, sometimes. When I put in effort, stand up tall, smile and really pay attention to the things that matter. It's put up with a lot over the years and ideally I'd like it to put up with a bit more in the future. So I have to love it. It's the only one I've got:

I know what you're thinking: does this woman ever wear clothes? Take me to the pool and I'm covered up, stick me on the Interwebz and I'm an exhibitionist. Sans toddler this time because it was well after his bedtime when I shoved a camera in to Map Guy's hands and asked him to take this. Plus wearing toddlers as a nudie-bit coverer is sooo 2011.

The three things I love about my body:

1. My breasts. Yep, on the list for three years running, these boozies deserve a medal. They're slightly smaller this year thankfully, and can now fit in to regular bras from regular shops. Sometimes. They're also still producing milk for the Trickster.
2. My eyebrows. They might be uneven thanks to some over zealous waxing in my younger years, but they're pretty good at not being a monobrow or looking like two caterpillars stuck to my head. I've also recently managed to lift only one eyebrow so I can give the perfect "WTF?!" look. That in itself makes them worthy of a spot on this list.
3. My tattoos. They totally count as a part of my body since they are there forever (or until expensive laser removal). I am still insanely in love with the tattoo on my arm. After wanting it for years and years I'm surprised that I sometimes forget its even there. Then I'll catch a glimpse of it in the mirror when I'm brushing my teeth and I can't help but smile.

Do you heart your body?

I Love Myself Linky #GlowsValentines

Happy Valentines Day and welcome to the I Love Myself Linky!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a Valentine's Day post featuring something you love about yourself and why. Got great legs? A sharp wit? Awesome craft skills? Good ear for music? Fabulous negotiating skills? Whatever it is, it has to be something about yourself that you L-O-V-E!

Throughout the day I'll be tweeting the links of those who linky up with the #GlowsValentines hashtag so keep an eye out!

So grab a button and link up!

<center><a href="http://www.wheresmyglow.com/search/label/GlowsValentines"><img src="http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae167/Glowless/GlowsValentines_1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="GlowsValentines" /></a> </center>

I Don't Heart My Body... So I Posed Naked On The Internet

Last year when the I {heart} My Body campaign was run by We {Heart} Life I put up a pregnant belly shot. I had a new found sense of love and respect for my body after it had grown Tricky, managed to birth him and was continuing to nourish him.

When considering linking up this year I starting freaking out. I felt ashamed of my body and wanted to run away and hide. Lots of old feelings came flooding back from when I was a lot heavier, followed by memories of when I was a lot lighter. The anxiety was suffocating. It's hard to love your body when it doesn't work, when it always hurts and lets you down.

I wonder what it would take for so many years of body issues and eating problems to be left behind? Weight loss? More therapy? A health scare perhaps? I need something to shock me in to taking it seriously, to stop cramming junk in to my mouth in an effort to squash down the anxiety and the only thing I can think of that I can do right at this moment is to pose naked on the internet.

So I did. 

With a strategically placed breastfeeding toddler.

Naked... on the internet... forever

I love my breasts. They are still nourishing and comforting Tricky as we near the 18 month mark. They are a lot closer to the ground and even more pendulous than ever as a 14 F (F for Faaaaar Out They're Huuuuge!). They most definitely fail the pencil test... hell, they'd fail the pencil case test... but they are amazing.

My little Koala holding on

I love my lips. They are big, pouty and good for kissing. Some people think they've been enhanced but it's actually scar tissue from splitting my lip open as six year old. Sometimes falling on your face can be good for you, you know?

Killer curves

I love my hair. I'm not sure if that counts as body but I'm going to go with it. It does what I want it to do most of the time and tends to look nice no matter what colour it is. It's incredibly thick to the point where hairdressers charge me extra because they have to use so much more product and blowdrying it takes forever.

So there it is. There I am. In all my naked Glowy glory. I'm half shit scared and half empowered... oh man what have I done?

Would you pose naked on the internet?

 

EDIT: There has been such wonderful feedback from this post and only one negative commenter via Facebook. So I feel the need to add that I didn't do this so men (or women) would leave me comments saying I'm hot... in fact the possibility that some immature person would happen upon this from a search and leave a snarky comment filled me with trepidation (it's happened on my youtube page before so I know it could happen here) and I considered turning comments off . I did this to embrace my body for what it is and to come to the realization that MY BODY IS AMAZING. Look at all it has done and continues to do. It may be broken, but the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. I AM BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. Embrace it. Learn to love it, learn to heart it... just like I am.

EDIT2.0: Thank you to all the people who have supported me on the Mum's Lounge Facebook page where the original negative comments were posted. In particular Jolene from Mum's Lounge who promoted the post in the first place and was very quick to defend both the I Heart My Body movement and my participation in it. I am, as always, amazed at the support this online community shows its members.

Body Lovin

Carly from We Heart Life has thrown down the gauntlet. Right now I hope you're hearing the Mission Impossible theme music, because I know I am and it makes this all the more exciting! Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to love your body.

Today marks I Heart My Body 2010 and to take part all you need to do is list three things you love about your body. Bloggers all over are doing their bit and you can find them all here, some of them are even nuding it up for the camera!!! Nudity on the internet? Now that's new!

Because all I seem to talk about lately is babies, babies and more babies, it's not surprising to find that all mine are infant related. So here I go...

1. I love my boobs. At the moment they're giving Tricky every little bit of nourishment he needs to grow up big and strong.

2. I love my arms. They let me play with him when he's happy, calm him when he's upset and cuddle him when he's asleep.

3. I love my lady parts (yeah, I just went there). They grew this little creature inside me and then when it was time, those parts knew exactly what to do to get that boy out and in to the afore mentioned arms.

My beautiful belly at 8 months pregnant - check out the innie belly button!

There are definitely parts of my body I don't love, but I'm learning to like them at least. You know the parts that are a bit flabby, a bit chunky, a bit closer to the ground than they were this time last year.

Got great eyes? A bum to die for? Legs that go all the way up? Tell me three things you love about your body in the comments below.