Tag: body image

My Favourite Outfits.

My Favourite Outfits.

by Victoria ♥ 1 Comment

Hello my lovelies! I hope you’ve been finding some time to relax and look after yourselves this week. This week I’m starting off today’s post a bit differently to how I normally would; and that’s because there are some important things that need to be said before we continue with my usual positive post for the week.

As we all know, protests are going on across the globe as police brutality and racism against the black community has not stopped and we as human beings need to actively be anti-racist. Too many lives have been taken and continue to be taken because of the colour of someone’s skin. Enough is enough. We cannot stand here and accept this. We will not.

I CAN'T BREATHE
Say their names. #BlackLivesMatter

To all of the black community:

I am not black, but I see you.

I am not black, but I hear you.

I am not black, but I mourn with you.

I am not black, but I will fight for you.

#BlackLivesMatter

I have white privilege, and that means that I cannot begin to understand the fear and pain the black community must go through every single day. Having white privilege also means that I can use my platform and privilege to help stop these injustices that are happening everyday.

If you can please go to blacklivesmatter.com and find out about your local peaceful protests and how you can do your part by donating to BlackLivesMatter, to bail funds, to Stand Up Against Racism, sign as many petitions as you can and educate yourself on your privilege and ensure that we are all more than just not being racist. We must be anti-racist.

Together we will have justice. If you’re going to protests please stay safe, here are some resources you can use to stay safe and support what is right. And to anyone who will say ‘All lives matter’ to this, yes, you’re right, all lives matter, and THAT is why black lives matter. You don’t truly believe that all lives matter until you are standing up for black lives, saying all lives matter right now is taking away from the voices who need to be heard, the black lives that need our help. And if you still don’t understand, watch this video which explains it perfectly:

I’m doing my part to stop the brutality that black people go through on a daily basis and I hope you will too.

Naturally because of everything that is going on at the moment we need to find time to look after ourselves. We must continue to fight and in order to do so, please look after yourselves, even if that’s just by making sure you’re carrying milk and water with you to protests and wearing your masks.

These times are hard and it can be hard to find a smile with everything going on (understandably and rightly so). So something I’ve been doing is wearing outfits that make me smile. And so, to hopefully give you at least five minutes of positivity today I’m going to be sharing them with you!

First up we’ve got some cute mom jean shorts with a black tee! I paired these with these amazing alien earrings and tiny black sunglasses which are just a complete vibe and I love them!

Next up we have this adorable check smock dress that I picked up from Tesco and it is just so comfy and I love that kind of grungy look you get when you pair a cute dress with black boots. Plus, since this is a smock dress, it’s super flown and perfect for those hotter days!

We’ve then got this button down cardigan paired with mom jeans I picked up from Tesco (F&F jeans are the best jeans and no one can convince me otherwise!) and some zebra print slip ons with rainbow heart hoops! I wasn’t sure how I wanted to wear this cardi at first but it’s so versatile that it goes with nearly everything! I chose to wear this cardigan by itself without a bra or top underneath because for one, it’s hot at the moment, and two – because why not!

Here’s that cute cardigan again, but this time I’ve put it with these incredible trousers I got from ASOS!

These trousers are so comfy because they’re high waisted, have little buckles on each side and on the ankles so you can adjust them and they are just plain (or rather not plain haha) adorable! And I think putting these with a simple black turtle neck (also ASOS) is such a cute look. I decided to accessories with black books for a grunge look and had to put my super cute iced coffee earrings with it to tie it all together! It’s one of my favourite looks of all, I just wish it was a little colder so I can wear it without overheating!

Next up is my cute all pink outfit. The variety in my style always makes me laugh, one second I can be seen in a super smart look, the next a grungy one, then super intimidating and then super soft. It all depends on my mood for the day. And this outfit is what I like to gravitate towards on those days where I want to wear pink and be all stereotypically cutesy! So, here I’ve got these baby pink cargo joggers with a checked pink crop top; and sometimes I like to add a white tee that I’ve cropped myself and add a white beanie to top it all off.

Here’s a smart, feminine and classy look that I love so much. Especially when I add the slim black sunglasses. Black mom jeans are comfy, look smart and are warm for those breezy days. I picked up the cardigan from ASOS (like a lot of these haha not sponsored, but it could be – ASOS.. I doubt you’re reading this but if you are, feel free to hit me up!) which has a nice 90’s vibe because of the black tiny ruffle trim which is cute by itself or open with a cute crop top and then I decided on these black flats that I’ve had for way over 5 years but have hardly ever worn, and I don’t know why I haven’t because they’re so unique and class up any outfit!

Last but certainly not least, we have one of my all time favourite looks. It’s certainly not cold enough for this outfit but I love it so much I had to include it. Here we’ve got an oversized grey SuperDry jumper with a black skort and black tights and boots. Oh, and of course I had to have the statement black sunnies make an appearance too. This look makes me feel so cute and I cant help but have happy vibes when I wear it. Plus, can we just appreciate how absolutely adorable this skort is!

And those are my favourite outfits! My style really does depend on how I’m feeling and what I want my mood for the day to be. If I’m feeling artsy and it’s chilly I’ll probably go for something like the tartan trousers, and if I’m feeling like I want to be effortless then I might go for the black mom jeans – cream cardi combo and if I’m feeling like I want to be cutesy then I might wear any of my dungarees or my pink cargo joggers.

Basically I wear what I want, when I want. And the motto I stand by when it comes to getting dressed and style is that you should wear what makes you happy, feel beautiful, confident and like you.

Love who you are and embrace yourself. Anything you wear will look good if you feel good.

Well, that’s it from me for today! What are your favourite outfits? How would you describe your style? Mines definitely eclectic! Let me know yours in the comments or tag me in your looks on insta @theweightofmyworlds!

Stay safe out there and love yourself.

Love,

My Favourite Outfits Pin
Why I’m Refusing To Make New Years Resolutions About My Body.

Why I’m Refusing To Make New Years Resolutions About My Body.

by Victoria ♥ 8 Comments

Hello my lovelies! I hope you have all had a happy Christmas and a very peaceful few days in the lead up to the end of the year! And of course, because we’re coming up to the New Year, New Years resolutions are popping up all over the place.

Which brings me to this post. For as long as I can remember, I have made New Years resolutions each year; and EVERY SINGLE ONE has been about how my body looks and my weight. It’s always along the lines of: I will lose weight, I will drop a dress size, I will change my body, I will go to the gym 6 times a week, I will stop eating certain foods etc. etc. etc.

This year I REFUSE to make a resolution about changing my body.

Now, some of you who are subscribed to my blog will know that I have spoken out about my body image issues and having suffered with Anorexia (see my previous post about it here!). Well, this past year I have been lucky enough to get some help and support and I am happy to announce that I am in recovery!

Writing this post came from seeing everyone’s resolutions on social media, with the majority of them being about their bodies and how they want them to look; and before I started my recovery journey, mine would have been like that too. I started thinking about what I want for the new year ahead and for the first time in.. well forever, I don’t know what my resolution should be if it isn’t about my appearance.

Here’s why I’m refusing to make my new years resolutions about my body:

  • My body does NOT need to change to be beautiful. It already is.
  • Resolving to eat less food/calories is stupid, food is fuel and we need energy to do all the amazing things we want to accomplish.
  • Food is not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ it’s just food.
  • Taking up less space does NOT mean I am a better human being.
  • Losing weight does not solve all your problems.
  • Spending hours in the gym trying to make my body into something it’s naturally not supposed to be is useless. And boring!

Here’s when it’s okay to make a new years resolution about your body:

  • Deciding to get help with a medical condition or something you’ve been struggling with.
  • Deciding to love your body.
  • Resolving to develop a healthy relationship with food and exercise. And no I don’t mean deciding to go on a so-called ‘healthy’ diet that makes you hate yourself and feel guilty for eating!!

So, because I am not making any resolutions to do with changing my body here are some resolutions that I AM making:

  • Riding my bike to work instead of driving so I become more confident in cycling. (I just got my first bike this Christmas!)
  • Read more.
  • Continue writing my blog, it’s by far one of the best things I decided to do this past year and I absolutely love it!
  • Learning to love my body more for everything it is and does.
  • Wearing clothes that I feel comfortable and confident in, regardless of what other people think.
  • Raise some money for charity. (you can check out my JustGiving page for MIND here if you want to!)

Those are just a few of my many resolutions for the new year; and I just want to share with you how much I truly appreciate every single one of you for reading, commenting, liking and interacting with me on here. You have made my year so happy and I can’t thank you enough for all of your support! What’re your new years resolutions? Let me know if the comments!!

I hope you all have a great New Years Eve and a very Happy New Year! Love,

Victoria Blog Signature

P.S. Thank you for voting for me and all of the other amazing bloggers nominated in the UKBloggerAwards!!

What Is Classed As Selfcare?

What Is Classed As Selfcare?

by Victoria ♥ 3 Comments

It’s #SelfcareWeek ! And it’s got me thinking, what do we actually think classes as selfcare? For me, I typically start thinking about face masks and bubble baths. And well yes that can be classed as selfcare; but as amazing as those things are, there are hundreds of other things you can do. And over the last few days, I’ve been partaking in a few of these myself.

The thought for this post came to me whilst I was walking home from the gym; it occurred to me that even though I think of lots of luxurious things as self-care, there are lots of small things I do for myself that make me feel good, and these count too.

Here’s a few things I’ve been doing for myself that aren’t always considered self-care:

  • Going to the gym, and doing what I want there, if I don’t feel like doing the stair climber today, I just don’t do it and I refuse to feel guilty about it!)
  • Buying myself a hot chocolate when walking home after going to the gym.
  • Putting on my moisturizer.
  • Listening to the Peptalk app (I highly recommend this one for when you’re commuting and walking anywhere, it’s a great motivational tool!)
  • Watching videos by Glamour, Ladylike, As/Is and the Try Guys.
  • Self Affirmations.
  • Watching Nikkietutorials (believe it or not I watch Nikkie’s videos when I’m at the gym and they make me so happy!)
  • Cleaning my room.
  • Playing with makeup.
  • Putting on makeup when I’m not going anywhere!
  • Lighting scented candles.
  • Having a bubble bath.
  • Unfollowing any social media profiles that make me feel bad about myself.
  • Watching my favourite films.
  • Cooking my favourite food.
  • Singing in the shower.
  • Talking to friends.
  • Finishing work ON TIME.
  • Related to the above – not looking at work emails when I’m off work.
  • Making myself a great breakfast.
  • Blogging.
  • Painting, drawing and being creative.
  • Getting 7/8 hours sleep.
  • Wearing thermal socks.
  • Using a 99p face mask.
  • Chatting to my sister.
  • Seeing my Niece and Nephew on FaceTime reeking havoc in my sisters house.
  • Driving round to look at Christmas Lights when they go up.
  • Making myself a cup of tea.
  • Meeting up with friends for a chat/food/movies (basically spending time with the important people in your life)
  • Wearing my favourite clothes.

Honestly the list could go on and on. I love selfcare, sometimes I do still feel selfish or guilty for spending time on ourselves, but we really shouldn’t. We’re stuck with ourselves for life so we better take care of that person we see in the mirror.

And at the end of the day, if something makes you happy and feel good, it’s probably your own version of selfcare. We’re all different so it’s impossible to say that one thing will work for everyone; telling someone to go take a bubble bath to relax if they hate having baths is pretty pointless. It’s a personal thing.

Some of the things in my list you might not consider to be selfcare, but for me, they are. Just doing one small thing for yourself a day can make such a difference to your mood and wellbeing. And myself from a year ago would say something along the lines of “I’ll start next week or in the new year”, but that’s not how I think anymore, the time to start is now.

That’s all from me today, I’m off to go get myself a hot chocolate and sit in a blanket with a book. Have a great weekend lovelies! You’re all amazing!

Love,

Victoria Blog Signature

P.S. The UK Blog Awards are now open for voting! It’d mean the world to me if you could vote for me my lovelies!! 

UKBlogAwards Image

I Tried BoomBod For A Week!

I Tried BoomBod For A Week!

by Victoria ♥ 11 Comments

Happy Saturday everyone! This week my mum and I came across a product called BoomBod. I came across this when my mum sent me a link at around 10pm at night (that’s usually when she’s looking at the daily mail online and finds all sorts of hidden gems which are usually a load of old twoddle). The article that was linked said that BoomBod prevents bloating and helps you lose weight and inches. So, mum and I decided to order ourselves a seven day supply and put it to the test/review it.

Here’s what you get for a weeks supply, 7 x ‘Morning Energizers’ Sachets, 7 x ‘Afternoon Motivators’ Sachets and 7 x ‘Night Rejuvenators’ Sachets.

BoomBod Sachets

So.. I’ll take you through my experiences with BoomBod day by day.

First things first, THE PLAN: Take a sachet  30 minutes before every meal 3 times a day whilst eating normally and exercising as normal.

Initial thoughts and predictions: If this actually does something this could be great, however, it’s probably going to do nothing.

Day 1: I’ve just taken my before photos (which I’m dreading uploading but never mind !). First sachet down and I’m regretting doing this already.. They taste like those cystitis sachets you have to take when you’ve got cystitis – in other words, they taste disgusting imo.

It’s lunchtime and I’ve just realised that I’ve eaten way more than usual which is weird considering these are supposed to fill you up and make you eat less. Bit confused..

Ok, so it’s  been 2 hours since my ‘night nourisher’ with dinner and I’ve now also worked out and I actually feel full finally but also feel like a slob and bloated.. which is the opposite to how I normally feel after a workout!

End of day 1 thoughts: This is a load of rubbish.

Day 2: It’s first thing in the morning and I feel so bloated and like I’ve put on weight! Fingers crossed this goes away and I start feeling better later today or tomorrow.

Lunchtime has come and gone and I’m still eating loads more than usual; don’t know if this is because I’m really trying to test if this thing works or if it just happens to make me hungrier.

End of day 2: Mood is that I hate everything about this.

Day 3: Finally feeling better!! My ‘morning energiser’ has kicked in and I’m feeling good and FULL! About damn time too because I was really giving up hope on this thing..

I’ve had my lunch and it went okay, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the taste of these things.. But yay I’m less bloated so far!

End of day 3: Forget my earlier comment, the bloat has just come on..

Day 4: I’ve just taken my half way photos and it’s done absolutely nothing! No visible difference so far, but that is sort of what I expected.

Again I’ve eaten way more than usual because I’m super hungry and could happily demolish a bucket of chocolate right now.

End of day 4: Why am I doing this again?

Day 5: I’m feeling good, still not used to the taste of the sachets but at least I’ve only got a few days left!

I’ve noticed you definitely have to plan ahead when doing plans like these because if you’re eating out at any point, you need to get your sachet in in advance.

End of day 5: Not as bloated this evening so that’s a plus! Don’t think it’s the sachets doing this though..

Day 6: Yay! One more day to go!

Feeling super bloated today.. what is happening?! What happened to yesterday’s no bloat?

End of day 6: I’m so ready for this to be over!!

Day 7: IT’S THE LAST DAY OF BOOMBOD!! Hallelujah!

Ok, so I don’t think it’s done anything other than inconvenience me.. actually I know all it’s done is inconvenience me and made me hungrier than ever.

So, what am I taking away from this week of BoomBod and do I think it’s worth doing?

Well you tell me, here’s my before and after pictures:

BoomBod Before and Afters
Here’s before, during and after my week of drinking BoomBod sachets.

I will say, it did make me think about my food choices and plan ahead more, but in saying that, if you’ve read any of my earlier posts then you’ll know that I suffer with an eating disorder and half way through this week I realised that this is just playing into my disordered thoughts. It occurred to me that I’ve come so far with my recovery from my eating disorder that this is testing my determination to get better and I’m actually kind of happy that BoomBod did nothing for me because otherwise I’d be spending a fortune to just decrease my recovery progress.

My mum was supposed to do this with me but she kept forgetting to take her sachets so she’ll write up her thoughts on it when she does it in a few weeks time.

I want to say that BoomBod is a complete sham; but I can’t say that for certain as this is just my personal experience and everyone’s experience is likely to be different depending on your body, food and exercise habits. BoomBod just didn’t work for me, and I’m glad it didn’t overall because it taught me a lesson.

Can I just say, I nearly didn’t post those images on here because I am not comfortable in my own skin, but I think it’s important to shine a light on the fact that we all have body insecurities and it’s about damn time we embrace them and love ourselves. And if this helps anyone feel a little less alone with their body insecurities then I’ll know that something positive (other than learning a few lessons along the way) came out of this week!

Moral of the story is that you should do you. And if you want to try something new then go ahead, but make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Doing this has just reminded me of how we need to forget all of the ‘rules’ about beauty and health that has been drilled into us from such young ages. Don’t conform to what all the stupid women’s magazines are telling you you should look like.

I hope this helped any of you thinking about taking or trying any diet supplements(I’ve also reviewed BooTea here)! And I just want to say that being what society has conditioned us to think as being ‘imperfect’ is actually what makes us perfectly imperfect, and I think that’s beautiful just like all of us (cheesy but true!).

Have a great week ahead everyone! Love,

Victoria Signature

Anxiety, Eating, Body Image Issues and ME

Anxiety, Eating, Body Image Issues and ME

by Victoria ♥ 3 Comments

Something you’ll find out about me sooner or later is that I suffer with a few mental health problems, so just putting them out there now, I suffer with anxiety, I’ve got OCD tendencies when it comes to food and I also have body image, weight and eating issues.

These problems or challenges as I’ve tried to think of them as, developed at different points in my life; when I was diagnosed with anxiety (several years ago now), I can’t say I was surprised. I had always been quiet as a child and was often forgotten to even be in the room because I never really spoke.

Every single parents evening at school I would be told the exact same thing – “Victoria is getting good grades and always listens to what’s being said but she needs to put her hand up and participate more”. Something that I never understood was that if my grades are up then why did they always want me to put my hand up more? I always did the work and homework and never misbehaved. But hey, I guess they just thought it’d help my confidence. I would turn red in the face just having to say yes to during the register.

Sometimes it felt like it’d never get easier for me to speak up and that’s probably due to the anxiety, I have a deep fear of making a fool of myself, disappointing people and just generally talking to people I don’t know very well.

Here’s the thing with my anxiety, as I’ve gotten older I’ve learnt to hide it (with lots of practice), so it’s not always obvious that I suffer with it. If you saw me with people I’m close to then you’d think there’s nothing wrong with me. If I’m comfortable with you I’ll just say whatever comes into my head. I suppose my anxiety around talking to people has got a little better over time, but I do know that I’m a better listener than when it comes to talking. (I can see I’m starting to rabbit on a bit about this now so I’ll move on..)

When it comes to my OCD tendencies and my eating/body issues, these are much more recent things in my life. You see, this time last year I was a size 18 girl who was going on 13stone+. I absolutely hated myself and how I looked then, and I’d tried all different diets and fads out there to try and lose weight. Long story short – nothing worked for me. I’d always wished that I could love my body and props to all the men and women out there who do love themselves, you’re an inspiration!

So for me I was in denial about how I felt about my image, I’d tell myself that I liked how I looked and I liked my size, but deep down I couldn’t stand to look at myself. Then one day came along and I decided to try the one thing I hadn’t yet done, Slimming World. I started Slimming World in July last year, and since then I’ve lost 3 stone and 2 pounds and am now a size 10. It’s taken loads of hard work and perseverance and I was lucky to have the support from my family, friends and lovely boyfriend. Now, as proud of myself as I am and that I do like how I look more than I did; I still hate seeing how wide my body is in the mirror(somethings never change I guess!).

After weight loss in old t-shirt
Here I am in one of my old t-shirts. You could use it as a tent!!

For me, going to slimming world has had positive and negative affects on my life. Positives are that I now eat a lot healthier, I work out 3-5 times a week, my weight is now healthy for my height (still think bmi is a load of rubbish though), I can share clothes with my mum and sister(big pros for when any of us are off out!) and I’m more confident in public.

The negatives that Slimming World has had on me are something I’m working on getting better. So although I have more of an awareness of what I’m eating – which is good to a certain extent – I now obsess over every little thing I consume, syn counting (a Slimming World method of counting ‘unhealthy food’ – like weight watchers points) has kind of taken over my life to the point where I can’t control myself when eating as all I think of is the amount on syns in food and I start freaking out when I don’t know what’s in food. I now feel guilty for every single bite of food I eat and feel the need to workout compensate for any food eaten, and I still see myself as that size 18 girl. I have an immense fear of putting all of the weight on, and I have to weigh myself every morning and see the number on the scale going down or I’ll beat myself up. Luckily I’ve got great support from my family, friends and boyfriends so I’m slowly getting a better mind-set towards food again.

Even though I’ve got all of these issues now I’ve lost weight, that’s not to say that if I had the choice to do it all over again that I wouldn’t go to slimming world, because I would. The good things for me have certainly outweighed some of the bad in my mind, and I’m trying to think of these bad things as challenges to overcome rather than just bad consequences of weight loss.

After all, I’m a lot healthier physically now than what I was, and that’s good; my mental health will always be a work in progress and that’s ok. I would say though, I feel like weight loss groups should have more of an after care for when people have lost lots of weight to tackle potentially developing things like eating disorders and body image issues. For now, I’ve decided to stop going to slimming world, and instead I’m focusing on staying healthy in my body and working on my mind-set towards food, and treating it like fuel to keep my body running.

I do just want to say that if you’re suffering with anything remotely like an eating disorder or other mental health issues then definitely go to your GP or a mental health service for some help and support, it’s totally worth the initial anxiety of talking about it.

Anyway, enough of my blabbering! That’s it for me about all of those things for now, I’ll maybe do a before and after post in the weeks to come… But we’ll see what happens. Thanks for reading and have lovely rest of the weekend!!

Love

Victoria x Blog Signature