Hey you!
Yeah, you.
In the yoga pants. Or the dress. Or the jeans. Or the skirt. Or no pants.
You.
With the coffee. Or the Diet Coke. Or the water. Or the wine.
Yeah.
You.
You're gorgeous.
I just thought you should know.
We are SO critical of ourselves, it's easy to lose track of what's amazing about you. I've been doing a lot of self-examination in my 2.5 months on the Shakle180™ weight loss program, and here's what I've learned: I'm awesome, no matter what I weigh.
Yes, I'm thrilled that I'm losing weight and inches (impressive numbers, I'll tell you!) and that my dress size is shrinking (Down several sizes!) But I also have to be very mindful that I don't let that define me. I have to be careful, as Jamie and I both embark on our individual weight loss journeys, that I don't let Max overhear my self-criticizing. I don't want him to know that I'm not happy with how I look; he tells me all the time that I'm beautiful and that I'm his favorite girl. (Jamie does too, don't get me wrong!)
But damn, it's hard! Even as I button up the size 12 jeans that haven't fit me in years, my eyes drift to the lumps that, while smaller, are still showing over the top of said jeans. I see my belly getting flatter, but I still eyeball my thigh jiggle when I'm getting dressed.
I can't help it.
So when Shaklee asked us to focus on the parts of ourselves that we love, I took a long hard look at myself, and whaddaya know? There's some stuff I like! I have legs for days, and while they're a pain to clothe in pants, they look lovely in dresses, and when I slip on heels? Forget about it. I love my collarbones and shoulders, and how they look when I'm wearing a strapless top.
I asked some friends to tell me what they love about themselves, and to show me. Here's what I got:
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- Also? THAT SMILE, Amiyrah!
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- I love KC's eyes too… so pretty!
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- Rock those calves, Yuliya!
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- I'm also a fan of dark hair/blue eyes!
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- Katie is the Queen of Bewbs for this one!
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- Amy has worked HARD for those biceps!
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- So pretty, Gracie!
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- (I think Kir has an amazing smile too!)
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- I can see why, Roxanne!
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- Pucker up, Wendy!
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- And such lovely eyes they are, Cristi!
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- Janet inspires me to work HARD.
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- I'm often jealous of Heather's amazing hair!
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- Uh, yeah, Ashley. People would pay for those!
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- A lovely smile for pretty Kendall!
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- Jess is a Crossfit badass.. she's earned those legs!
So now I have a challenge for YOU. (You knew this was coming, right?) What do you love about yourself? Let's see it! I know you've got something! Take a few minutes if you need to. I know it isn't necessarily the easiest thing to do, and that we're so conditioned to look at ourselves with a harsh eye, but you're gorgeous, I know it.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporation blogger program. I will be receiving free products, online support and incentives for participating. All opinions expressed are my own. People following the weight loss portion of the Shaklee 180™ Program can expect to lose 1-2 lbs per week. I am also a Shaklee distributor.
YOU are seriously gorgeous and all these gals….all these beautiful women with beautiful parts of themselves. WHAT A simply beautiful post.
HOT, HOT, HOT 🙂
xo
Right? I am surrounded by gorgeous women!
XOXO
Oh, this post makes me happy. I think it’s so much easier to look at someone else and see their beauty than to see our own.
I love my fingernails. They grow long and strong without me doing anything to them.
Ooh… I’m SO jealous of fingernails! Mine are not so good.
I also love your voice… it’s super-relaxing and welcoming to me!
You do have great collarbones and every last woman in your post is just beautiful. Too bad we can’t all see each other through the eyes of a child sometimes…
Great job getting people to point out their positives instead of dwelling on their flaws. I have a beer gut, but I also have great legs and nice eyes and still have most of my hair. Yay me!! lol.
Yay for hair! (Assuming it’s where it belongs and not sprouting excessively out of ears/noses!)
Thanks for stopping by!
Great post, Lizz! I wish I’d remembered to send you something when you called for this on G+. I’ll say it here, though: I have fantastic cleavage. I love my hair. And I was blessed with a natural hourglass. Even when I feel like the glass is too full, as it were, I still feel sexy.
To the gorgeous ladies who showed off, you’re all beautiful! All this positivity has such a great vibe!
Hooray for fab cleavage! Alas, it is not one of my strengths…
This is an awesome post, Lizz!! I might be less horrified though if I submitted a photo where I’m not making a duck face! ::shudder::
It’s adorable, and very you! <3
Oh my goodness, this is so timely for me….. Struggling with that very thing today, in a very uncharacteristally intense way. Thank you. xoxo
Aww, Kim! I’m sorry you’re having an off day, and I hope you’re able to celebrate your beauty again soon! XOXO
My buddy, Kirsten, tweeted about this post and encouraged us to check it out. I am glad that she did because it is wonderful and so very positive. I am the husband of a beautiful wife who, when told by me that she is beautiful will often reply, “Oh, you must be tired” or “You have to say that.” I am the father of two daughters, both still young, who are bombarded daily with photos in magazines, on tv or the computer of scantily clad girls being considered popular or successful. I am a teacher who has taught for 24 years and has seen so many tweens twisting themselves into emotional knots trying to create a version of themselves that fits in with the media messages they are seeing so frequently. Trying to convince girls/women that the beauty inside is enough is incredibly difficult these days. Perhaps, more blog posts such as yours will act as the cobblestones that, taken together, will pave a way forward for a new generation of beautiful ladies who are beautiful because they just are.
Wow, Tom, thank you SO much for this!
I have high hopes that things are better for our girls down the road; I have a son, but my sister has 3 girls, and my heart aches when I think of some of what I/we all went through growing up.
It’s so, so hard.
You rose to the challenge this month and what a fabulous job you did. Way to involve your friends! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sommer!
<3 this. <3 you and these fabulous ladies, too!
What’s your gorgeous, Andrea? I know what *I* think…
I have met you in person and I agree that you have amazing legs and that collarbone? I die for that collarbone.
You also have a gorgeous smile, piercingly beautiful eyes, super amazing cheekbones (and freckles on them? oh I love that).
Besides mah bewbs and mah smile? I also like my bottom. Yeah, I’m that girl. Proud of my ASSets 🙂
Can I pay you to follow me around and tell me things about me that are pretty? <3
I cannot WAIT to see you at Blogher! (And I'll have to check out the ASSets when it isn't pregnant and sickly...)
LIZ!!! I absolutely love this!! Can I do it too?! I’m gonna ask my friends for their pics too. I think you are gorgeous Liz! Am loving seeing your transformation with Shaklee180! 🙂 Yes I love your collarbone too!! I’m so jelly of it!! 🙂
Of course you can do it too! I’d love for EVERYONE IN THE WORLD to take a few minutes and find something they love about themselves! There’s nothing wrong with more happy people in the world!
And thank you!
Love this. And your collarbones are lovely. I like mine too, and my shoulders. And my eyes. Not my tummy, but I’m working on that. 🙂
Aren’t we all? And yes, your eyes are lovely!
Thank you, beautiful Lizz. It was an honor to grace the stage with you (and those legs of yours) on Mother’s Day. Max and Jamie are right! xo
Oh, Debra, you are one of those people who is just a joy to share a room with… nevermind a stage! Thank you for sharing your light and bringing it to our cast! XOXO
BEAUTIFUL lady!! I’ll tell you what I love soon enough! 😉
I can’t wait to see!
This is amazing!! YOU are amazing!! What a great idea for a post. We can all use more positive reinforcement in our lives. I love how you involved your friends and collarbones, you’ve definitely got ’em, as well as an incredible skin color, awesome smile, lovely hands, and thoughtful eyes. xoxo
This is so awesome, Lizz! You DO have awesome collar bones. And congratulations on getting healthier, too!
I love my hair. Always have. God gave me good hair. 🙂
You DO have amazing hair! <3
I really love this. I see so many women and girls unhappy with their body. We’ve been trained to look for the negative, it seems. I try really hard to focus on the good (but that’s easier said than done lots of days!!). It’s important for me to model that behavior for my daughter.
Thank you for encouraging us to do this!
I have nice hair and I like my nose. 🙂
Baby steps, and maybe we can change the world just a little bit for the next generation of girls, right? Glad to do my part, no matter how tiny.
So many beautiful women!
We do tend to focus on the negative so much that it’s really nice to see that there are things about ourselves that we do like. I bet that there is more than one thing too!
For me… soon it’ll be my legs because I am serious about getting them thin & trim!
Great legs AND your fab hair and eyes? I’m jealous, lady!
Thank you Lizz for doing this. You gave me to put my biceps up there for the world to see. I am finally feeling more confident in myself….something I have never had. 🙂
Thank you for participating, Amy! And I’m glad that I could help, even just a little bit! XOXO
Wow. Someone asked me this question as part of a blog hop two years ago and it caused me to have an existential crisis. I made a short film about it. In the end, the only answer I could come up with was it was my “self” that I loved. As opposed to “myself”.
Tough question!
I’d love to see your piece, JC!
Also, besides your mega-dose of talent and sense of humor, you have excellent boobs. 😉
What a great post! I just love it to pieces.
(PS Welcome to the Social Fabric Family)
Well, this is a hard one to answer. I will say it is my waist. Since literally all the extra stuff settles between the abs& hips,ugh but the waist is the area I love best about me:-)