blog
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for being here.
I like to write a lot. Mostly about powerlifting, strength training, body image + women in sport. They’re kinda my things.
If you ever have questions or want to learn more, please reach out. I would love to hear from you.
Billie x
Promoting Obesity Is Not A Thing & And Other Things The Internet Gets Wrong About Body Positivity
The body positivity and Health At Every Size movements are largely misunderstood. Viewed by thin people as “promoting obesity,” their messages of empowerment and self-acceptance (both extremely valuable in contributing to improving physical, mental and social health) are often completely misconstrued and contorted. Both movements have extremely positive missions and outcomes that are very worthwhile understanding.
Dealing with Your Self
I recently has the pleasure of co-writing an article with my own coach Lyndon Purcell over at his online space ThereforeThink. We spoke about a broad range of topics from self-acceptance to self-love, the ego, how self-acceptance and personal development relate and what we think would make a personal unaccceptable. I really enjoyed writing this piece. You can read it over at ThereforeThink.
Body Image Distortions
A negative body image is often accompanied by substantial negative self talk. Most of our self talk is completely irrational, which we can notice if we take a step back and break it down. The problem is that we get so emotionally involved with our appearance that it can be hard to take that step back. Instead, we make these wild mental mistakes that steer our self talk down dark and dangerous paths. The good news is though that we can turn our self talk around by recognising and eliminating these destructive mental mistakes as we make them.
"Physically Attractive People Have It All" And Other BS We Tell Ourselves
“My worth as a person depends on how I look,” “physically attractive people have it all,” “if people knew how I really look, they probably wouldn’t like me so much,” “my life would be happier if I looked a certain way,” “I don’t need to change my body image; I need to change my body.”
Chances are, you’ve had some of these thoughts before. These are common assumptions we make about our appearance in order to protect ourselves. The problem is that these assumptions that we make to protect ourselves end up having the exact opposite effect — they are self deprecating and promote self rejection.
Overhauling long-standing appearance assumptions is a big job. It’s one thing to question them lightly; it’s another thing to challenge your deepest held beliefs and wrestle with the discomfort for as long as it takes to take the f*cker down.
How to Improve Your Body Image - Tried and Tested Methods
The people who are most resilient to threats and challenges to their body image are not so because they are beautiful or thin. Instead, they are protected by being not relying on their physical appearance for their identity or self worth and keep their looks in perspective by investing in other things for self-fulfilment such as family, friends, achievements, work and leisure interests. This sounds all well and good, like “yeah I’d love to feel that way, but I don’t”. So, how do you achieve a positive body image?