The Moment I Started To Love My Body

‘Eurgh’ days plague us all – some more than others, of course – but these three women snapped out of their unhealthy habits and started treating themselves a little bit kinder…

- Shari Nementzik

EMILY SKYE:

‘I STOPPED COMPARING MYSELF TO OTHERS’

‘I hated what I saw in the mirror. I always felt like I was never good enough. It’s funny because what is “good enough”? I don’t even know, but we put so much pressure on ourselves to look a certain way. I felt like I had no shape with my body, I was just straight up and down and I didn’t feel like a woman.

About seven and a half years ago, I did a fitness competition because I thought having a goal might help me feel better and more confident, but I still didn’t feel that great. It was really restrictive and obsessive and I still felt bad about myself because I was constantly comparing my body to others’. There is nothing wrong with competing – if people love to do it, go for it; it just wasn’t right for me.

What I was doing wasn’t really maintainable and it wasn’t healthy, especially mentally. I decided it just wasn’t enough for me; I wasn’t happy, so I went and furthered my fitness qualifications and did more research on a holistic sort of lifestyle, eating foods that nourish your body, not just foods that get you lean. People always think that overnight you decide something and it all just happens – it doesn’t, it takes time.

For years, I was focused on how I looked, and even when I became healthier and fitter, I was still doing it to look good. Now, I’ve shifted that focus from training to look a certain way to training because it makes me feel good.

I still have struggles and go through times where I don’t feel motivated, but overall I’m happy and feel set free from that negative mindset I used to be in.’