Body Love and a Guest Post

After I put my sweet child to bed last night I was ready to get down to business with one of my favorite magazines.  Womens Running is one of the best magazines.  I love that it focuses on us ladies and a lot of the articles take into account the busy lives we lead and the many hats we wear.  I am a Mom, Wife, ICU Nurse, and a Runner.  All of those require time, effort, will power, thoughtfulness, and to make them all coincide requires some discipline.  This magazine hits on that.

When I opened it up I read the Editors note and it was about loving your body.  Now I don't know about you, but I have always had a love/hate relationship with mine.  In college it was more hate and my self esteem was so low.  It didn't help that I didn't honor my body either and fed it garbage.  After I picked up running I discovered how much better I ran and functioned overall if I ate healthy along with running.

Right now as I gain weight and change shape throughout this pregnancy I have had good and bad days.  I am proud that my body can adapt to the requirements that this new life I'm growing requires.  I would be lying though if I didn't feel bad about myself at times as I watch that needle creep up on the scale, or give into one of my many pregnancy cravings.  It is amazing and bizarre how our bodies change and grow.  I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and am just amazed at what I looked like prior to pregnancy and how I look now.  I know I will get back to something like what I was, but it is true that your body is never the same after growing and carrying a child.  That's ok.  I read this article and Jessie the Editor in Chief talks about being grateful for the body you are given.  Thank it for what it allows you to do.

So today I am being thankful.  I walked yesterday for half an hour and today for 20 minutes.  I also cleaned my house, did laundry, chased a hooligan of a toddler around to name a few things.  Last week I worked 70 hours.  None of this is easy with or without a watermelon strapped to your belly, but my body allows me to do it.  I am not saying I don't have aches and pains, and being me I definitely push a little past the limit at times but that is who I am.  My body has adapted to that, or it screams back at me that I am doing to much.  If I listen I do so much better.  How cool is it that I am growing a human and doing all these things.  I am also grateful this body allowed me to run up until 32 weeks.  That is an accomplishment. 

I want to make it more of a habit that I be grateful to my body rather than bash it for what it isn't or cant be/do.  I want to work on and grow this body love.  It's the only body I get so I better quit picking and comparing and starting loving and respecting.

Do any of you have body image issues?  Want to work on some Body love?

To completely change the subject my dear twitter friend Karen over at karenlovestorun.com was nice enough to let me do a guest post on her blog about the town I grew up in and run in today.  Check it out here!