This is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. As someone who has recovered from disordered eating and someone who still struggles with body image issues, I’m participating in the #CaptureHope Campaign by writing a love letter to my body.
Dear Body,
I’m sorry. Sorry for everything. I’m sorry for not feeding you one day, then over feeding you the next. Sorry for putting you through diet after diet after diet. Â Sorry for the horrible way that I talk about you. Sorry for just downright abusing you. Most of all, I’m sorry for never taking the time to realize how AMAZING you really are. I’m always quick to point out flaws about you when I’m looking in the mirror…nose is big, boobs are too small, stomach needs to be flatter, OMG all of this cellulite. But I never ever look back at you and say, nice smile, perfect eye brow arch, Kim Kardashian who? (This booty is all natural.) I never truly appreciate you in all your glory and again I’m sorry. Enough with the apologies, I want to do something that is way overdue…THANK YOU. Throughout all my mistreatment and bad decisions, you never stopped working. Even when my bad decisions caused my health to get really bad, you believed in us and you kept going. Through sickness and health, you always work hard for me.
Perfectionism is something that I struggle with alot. And although you aren’t perfect, you are perfect for me. I’m learning. I’m learning how to treat you better and learning how to speak to you better. Our love-hate relationship is no more. I LOVE YOU! I love every curve, every roll, and every stretch mark. I love you and all that you allow me to do, I love that you  can stay up all night and still wake up in the morning, I love that you can wear six inch stilettos all night and not collapse, I love how you can still do the splits like you did in 1997. I love that you are healthy.
I’m not promising that I won’t ever mistreat you again, but I’m going to try really hard not to. Today, I’m making a promise to make a conscience choice to only speak positively about you. I already have positive body affirmations written on every mirror in my apartment, but I will no longer look pass the words and speak self hate.
I don’t know how much I weigh and I don’t care. I will embrace you because you are the only body that I have. Tight 10, Loose 12…whatever… you are my body and I love you!
Love,
P.S. Yoga at 9am!
Photo Credit: Sidney Mori PhotographyÂ
21 thoughts on “A Love Letter to My Body #NEDAwareness Week #CaptureHope”
Twitter: spookieloo
Absolutely amazing ! This is very inspiring and you are helping lots of people accept their bodies and love them as well.
Twitter: taylorbrione
Thank you for reading Jasmine! Glad to inspire!
Awesome piece and inspiring me to sit down and write a love letter to my body. It’s crazy how much we tear ourselves down, isn’t it? And what always gets me is that for every part of my body I ‘hate’, there are people out there telling me how much they love it, UNABASHADLY and with sincere admiration. It’s mind-boggling. Sometimes you need to stand in front of a mirror and tell yourself how much you love it too…just as shamelessly. Bravo to you! Love it! 🙂
Twitter: taylorbrione
Thank you! I read your post on Orthorexia and it was moving as well! so glad to have connected online regarding ED’s and I hope we can keep in touch!
Beautiful letter. Thank you for sharing and bringing attention to this issue. Visiting from Saturday Sharefest.
Twitter: taylorbrione
Its such a huge issue and I’m glad to be able to share my experiences in order to help others!
I’ve had this open for a little bit and finally had the chance to read it today. It’s beautiful. I’m going to give you a shout out in my post today – I hope that’s okay – this mindset is critical and I love it. Thank you for sharing. This is important to read, for me, for so many. Your body rocks!
Twitter: taylorbrione
Thank you so much for sharing this with your readers! I hope to be able to inspire others! 🙂 Thank you for your positive encouragement!
So sweet! I love this. Thank you so much for sharing about an INCREDIBLY important topic. Glad to have found you from the Sharefest 🙂 You rock, lady. ~Jenna // A Mama Collective
Twitter: taylorbrione
Thank you for reading! Glad to help or inspire others!
Honey I am so proud of you. Thank you for this post. You are amazing in so many ways!
Twitter: taylorbrione
Thank you Anjanette! Your comments are always encouraging!
what a great idea. Doesn’t every woman need to do this? We’re our own worst judge sometimes…
Twitter: taylorbrione
We definitely are our worst critic.
Yeah, any body that can wear six inch stilettos all night and do the splits is something to be celebrated! It’s hard work in this messed up culture to really love your body, but it’s clear from your perspective that the hard work of self-acceptance really pays off.
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Twitter: taylorbrione
Self-acceptance is hard work when you have a history of eating disorders and self-hate, but now I’m glad that I can accept myself.
Taylor Brione Ballard recently posted…#DIY Graduation Cap Decorating ! #PrettyPinkGrad
Twitter: nikkikestenbaum
Taylor, this is truly honest and I think we should all write one. I think we all have our ups and downs but putting them out there is what’ll make all of us feel normal and comfortable in our own skin.
Twitter: taylorbrione
Thanks for stopping by Nikki! I think sharing my story has helped me to be more comfortable as I have to talk to others about what I went through.
Taylor Brione Ballard recently posted…#PWATParty: Painting With A Twist Blogger Party!
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Very inspiring. We should constantly write love letter to our body. We should love our body more and nourish it. Our body is valuable than our eating disorder! lets throw away our eating disorder! Read my story how I struggle with bulimia and how I managed to recover from it at my blog http://www.bulimiafree.com.
Twitter: taylorbrione
Yes it is important. Writing things down makes things more real, because sometimes even when we say or think something, it’s not as effective. Loving your body comes in so many forms and its important that we feed it, nourish it, clothe it, hydrate it, medicate it…whatever is necessary to be our best healthy self. Thanks for stopping by!
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