Your Clothes Are Lying To You About Your Body

Let's talk about bodies and how we feel about them. Body positivity is great and all but I think for most people (myself included) it feels like an impossible goal.

In my work I follow a more realistic practice – body acceptance. 

Body acceptance isn't about waking up one day and suddenly loving every inch of yourself. It's not about jumping from hating your body to worshiping it. 

On one end, you've got "I fucking hate my body," and on the other, "I'm a goddamn goddess." Most of us are somewhere in the middle, and that middle is a whole spectrum of its own.

The goal? It's not to catapult yourself to the "goddess" end (though if you get there, good for you). It's about inching away from the "hate" end. Even if you land at "meh, it's a body," that's HUGE progress.

Where You Might Be Now

Let's be real: How many of you are wearing oversized clothes that look like you're in hiding? 

*raises hand* 

I get it. I’ve done it. I had a phase of wearing exclusively oversized sack dresses. Everyone around me was telling me that I could do better and I knew that was true but I was scared to do it.

Wearing oversized clothes is easier. Hiding when you’re uncomfortable is easier than dealing with your feelings. 

But the truth is, it’s only making the problem worse. Our therapists (or therapists we follow on TikTok) have told us that avoidance is not a good coping strategy. We know better than to do this, and yet, here we are.

Doing this isn’t helping you get to where you want to be, it’s just delaying doing the hard stuff. But you’re a badass! You do much harder things all the time – you can do this.

The Unexpected First Step

Here's where it gets counterintuitive. The first step isn't trying to accept your new body. It's about learning to dress it. Yeah, you heard that right. Before you can accept it, you need to see it – really see it – in clothes that work.

Icon, legend, genius, Stacy London said "You cannot be the best version of yourself if you’re not willing to accept exactly where you are. If you’re not accepting of your physicality exactly as it is, you will always dress it incorrectly."

What Comes Next

Listen to Your Body

Your body will tell you how you feel about something immediately. When you put something on, notice what your body is telling you. Do you feel tingly? Do you feel warm? Did your stomach flip in a good way? Did your stomach flip in a bad way? Pay attention to those feelings and listen to them. They’re right.

Wear Clothes That Fit

I'm talking proper fit, not "I'll squeeze into this when I lose 10 pounds" fit. No buttons, zippers or seams digging into you. And on the other side, nothing that’s too big, don’t drown in fabric unless that’s an intentional lewk. And remember, sizes are fake! Wear whatever fits comfortably, regardless of what's on the tag.

Let Your Eye Adjust

Give yourself time to get used to seeing your body as it is now. Look at yourself in the mirror naked, often. (It’s not as scary as you think!) Follow influencers that are your size and shape so you can get used to seeing it in a positive light. Bonus points, that’s a great source of styling ideas. This is a great tool to do that.

The Takeaway

Start dressing the body you have now. Not the body you had in college, not the body you're planning to have after you go keto. THIS body. The one reading this right now.

Will you love it immediately? Probably not. But can you get to a place where you don't actively hate it? Abso-fucking-lutely.

And that, my dear, is progress. It's the first step on a journey that I know you’re strong enough to take. So let's start walking, shall we?