Emotional fitness is a big part of living with Lipedema, some days it can really be a challenge, so today I posted the following in our Facebook support group about learning to love your Lipedema body. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, some days you might feel on top of the world, and the next you are in tears, the support of others just like you helps a lot, and seeking out a support group that meshes with you is the first step. Here is a look at how I personally worked towards loving my body ...
I love British television, no drama, and everyone is nice to each other, The Great British Baking Show started it, but then I found others, like The Great Pottery Throw Down!
I recently found it on YouTube, and blew through both seasons, but was excited to learn another season was currently ongoing; episode three just aired on YouTube last night.
I loved the illustration one of the artists did for Episode One (create a breakfast set with coffee press, two coffee cups and saucers and toast holder)... her name is Sampada Gurung, she is an illustrator (she has a series of these lovely illustrations, I want copies of them all), seeing our bodies represented in art lifts my soul so much.
What do you do for an emotional lift?
I found following fashion ladies with bodies that look like mine on Instagram (like Tess Holliday and Mustang Sally Two), and joining body positive fitness groups on Facebook (like Fit Fatties and Big Fit Girl), a huge help in starting to change how I felt about my body. One day the change exploded when a lovely woman in one of the bopo fitness groups commented on a video I had shared, with this super cute illustration of me. It brought me to tears, someone saw me lifting a heavy bag as inspiration to create art. I LOVE ART! And now I WAS ART! She goes by krissyrini on Instagram, and does super cute pet artwork, too.
Then Kathryn Lynn Hack (an amazing artist friend who also has Lipedema) created art from my image, just about burst my heart with so much love. I ended up purchasing a piece she made as my 50th birthday present to myself, and it hangs on the wall in front of my vibration machine, so I see it every day and it reminds me that we are all beautiful. She is pure joy if you have not had the opportunity to see her work or hear her speak, seek it out. She was a presenter at FDRS a couple years ago, on their YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/Q6GutmAgPuE
That was the tipping point, when my Instagram feed was full of bodies that looked like me, rocking great fashion, and I was actually art inspiration, and loved looking at the creations these gifted artists made, it changed my life in that very moment. It is when I stopped being angry at my body, and started loving it.
I guess you could say watching kinder, more gentle, television shows helped me to be kinder, and more gentle, with my body. And seeing all sizes be represented in fashion and fitness helped me to see my body as fashionable and fit! What we watch matters. What we allow into our lives matters.
