Comfortable in my skin

I always find reading other blog posts about confidence and improving yourself hugely motivating. That's why I thought I'd try to share a few tips for boosting confidence. Although this list is not exhaustive, it does help me massively.

1. Wear things that suit you

Don't follow just trends. If you don't suit a certain colour, just don't wear it. Wear things you like and feel comfortable in. I have plenty of clothes but tend to stick to dresses or colours I love most. I also find dressing nicer, making effort with hair, makeup and nails helps when in stressful situations like a first day at a new job, an interview or meeting someone new.

2. Find hobbies that suit you

So many people keep up pastimes they feel they should like such as doing sports, gym or cinema, but the list is exhaustive. If you wish  to be more creative, the internet is a perfect place  to find something you might like. I want to do more creative things like scrapbooking, but also enjoy going to events like fundraisers, music gigs and seeing live comedian (although  don't do the last two as often as I'd like) and enjoy watching films (new and old), writing, reading and doing yoga.

3. Be healthy!

Walking my dogs is my perfect excuse to get active!

I can't stress this enough. If you struggle to walk basic distances due  to lack of fitness, you won't feel too great about  yourself. You are also what you eat! Being healthy can be a huge confidence boost. I've noticed a big difference from cutting portion sizes, trying not to feel guilty if tempted by chocolate or snacks and keeping up regular exercise that I actually like.

4. Taking care of your skin

For almost a year, I changed my skin routine and noticed a huge difference. I have very spot-prone skin that can pop with acne or spots when stressed. I need to be careful to avoid fizzy drinks and limit sugar (although difficult). I have found things along the way that help such as Liz Earle products as discussed in previous post here. I didn't want to scare readers in that post, but here is my skin transformation:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Granted my after picture has me with eye makeup and eyebrow pencil, it is without any skin makeup. It shows my spot-prone skin with just one spot and minimum scarring from spots. My skin feels much healthier and never could imagine it looking like this - naturally. Now I just need to find a cheap acne scarring treatment...

5. Improve

I think everyday is a learning curve. It's nice to take time to learn and improve yourself. For example, at the moment I've started volunteering at a local charity to improve skills for better  employment. I'm also continuing my battle to pass my driving, which will increase my independence and open more  job opportunities

6. Take time for you

I try to dedicate Sunday to pampering. This means no makeup, exfoliating face, painting nails and anything else I want to do to ease stress.

7. Positivity

Surround yourself with positive people, positive things and take positive steps. I'm not saying you'll be positive 100% of the time, but good to try. It will definitely make you feel better.

8. Make yourself proud

Setting goals really helps me. I set lots of goals every year that you'll notice from reading my new  year posts. I like to feel I've achieved something.

I hope you like your tips. If there is anything else you do that helps with your confidence, I'd love to hear it. Being an anxious person I always look to improve my  confidence as it helps makes me happier.

What being overweight taught me

Slowly during my final year of university up until now (which is over 2 years after graduating), I've put on weight. It's been a little bit at a time, slowly. I've developed bad eating habits which have made something I thought wouldn't happen to happen. Here are my favourite "skinny" pictures of myself:

My 18th Birthday

In my back garden when I was 15/16.

Looking at these pictures, I can't believe how skinny my arms are, how my cheekbones seem more pronounced and how I somehow look taller. I will be like this again, but probably not right away!

This being said, I feel a lot of good has come from being overweight, which I don't feel I would know without putting on some food baby pounds:

• I've learnt to accept my body shape - I've always thought I'd finally get boobs if I put on weight, but just haven't. I've learnt that I might not ever have a flat stomach (I've never had one even at my skinniest). Naturally I have more of a pear shape - skinny or not, which means I'm smaller on top and have a bigger bum.
• I've learnt I can't be perfect - I've always thought if I put on weight, I might get more curves, but sometimes you can't look the way you envision. It's all about being healthy!
• I've learnt to emphasise my good parts - I'm small chested, so can often wear things that other women can't. Being more self-conscious about my stomach, I am careful not to wear fitted or bodycon dresses which I like the look of. I think it's important to know what suits you
• I've learnt the styles that suit me/what I like - I like particular colours more like khaki, green, purple, blue, maroon or black; I think they suit me best. I like skirts and dresses, layering, wearing legging and tapered trousers. I love more formal/office outfits.
• I've learnt what I like most about myself - I like my bum and walk a lot so get a lot of tone in my legs.

With these new views and help with body confidence, it's made me more determined to lose weight - get in better shape for me, to boost my confidence and more importantly to be healthy. I've always been like I will do it one day, but after going to the doctor, I got the shock I needed. Apparently I've got a BMI of 30, which although it means I'm not obese, I do need to do something as I'm officially in the overweight category. I'm determined to eat more veg, limit my chocolate and keep active. I want to be able to maintain my figure - not to cut everything out that I like. It's just a shame I like most of the unhealthy stuff - cheese, pasta, bread, chips, chocolate, sweets, all the bad things.

I will maybe keep you updated on healthy things I'm enjoying, adaptions to my diet and any forms of exercise I've taken up.

Have you found particular things suit you? Does anything in particular help with your body confidence? I'd love to hear it!