Love Your Body

Every year the Women's Resources program at my school puts on a challenge called "Recapturing Beauty". It is a campaign designed to help women to reshape their attitudes and opinions of their own beauty, physically and spiritually. It is designed to help women learn to "develop a greater love and appreciation for who they are as divine beings". I didn't hear about the campaign this year until the last day, so I was unable to participate in the 10 Day Challenge (or receive a free t-shirt, dang it!).

October 19th was also NOW's National Love your Body day, so I guess I've been a little bombarded this week with reasons to love myself and my new body. I'm not gonna lie, its been difficult to transition my mindset from a "fat" girl to a healthy girl. I still look in the mirror and see "fat Sammi" some days. But I have also learned to appreciate myself in a new light. And I want to share that with you.

**All photos courtesy of Tilt Photography**

 I love my smile. Its not perfect, its not even "real", but I love it nonetheless.

 I like my eyes. I like the way they change colors depending on what I'm wearing. Some days, they are a rich green. Others, a murky green blue. And once in a while, they almost look grey.

 My legs are strong. I have thunder thighs and I'm not afraid to admit it. I thought that once I lost weight, I would automatically have small legs. But I don't, and I like them this way. I have muscle definition. I can run 10 miles. Who doesn't want to be able to say that?

 I like my small waist and big hips. I'm curvy and I always will be (once again, another trait that I though would go away but didn't). But I rock my curves. And apparently boys find curvy girls more attractive...and that's always a good thing. ;)

I like my feet. This sounds weird, but hear me out. I used to have really nice looking feet. Now my feet are calloused and "veiny". My mom's feet have always been like this, and now I know why: we are runners. I have runner's feet (although hopefully I will never get runner's toe...). They aren't pretty, but they define who I am and what I do. I couldn't do any of the activities I love if I didn't have strong, calloused feet.

I like my laugh. I sound weird, my nose crinkles, and sometimes I squeak. But it means that I'm happy.

I still have fat days. I sometimes doubt myself. But I'm getting better. We are all amazing people, regardless of our physically condition, because we are made in the image of a God who loves us tremendously. We have been blessed with strong bodies and minds, and hopefully y'all can realize how amazing this is.

Have a great weekend!

Water.

The other day in my R.I.P.P.E.D. class, cute Kara, our instructor, remembered that she back when she first started teaching she would give one "health tip" during each class. So her tip for the day? "Drink half of your body weight in fluid ounces of water per day." Huh?

If you're a little confused, don't worry. This is where my "math head" kicks in: Let's assume that you weigh 140 lbs. Then you should be drinking 70 oz. of water per day.

This got me thinking, how much water do I drink a day? I know its a lot because I have to pee like every hour (TMI? Deal with it.). But how much? So I have been tracking my drinking habits for the last few days, and I typically drink anywhere from 100-120 oz. of water a day! That's a lot of water! I'm consuming about 75% of my body weight in fluid ounces per day. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but I like it that way. I never feel hungry or dehydrated.

Is it possible to drink too much water? I looked it up, and pretty much you can't. Unless you are chugging gallons of water at a time--then you can die. Seriously. But as long as your water intake is spread throughout the day, no big deal. Cool fact: your kidneys can process up to 15 liters of fluid a day! Dare you to test that out...

In the meantime, eat Pumpkin-Coconut Chowder. Its delicious. And I might make it a few more times this weekend. Because it makes my tummy happy. And one of these days, I will get you a new recipe. Sorry I'm a slacker.