Fem365: Fitness. Food. Femininity.
I’m going to admit it: I have really let myself go.
Yesterday morning I went swimming…. For the SECOND TIME! Hooray! See my first post about swimming by clicking here. As soon as I slipped on my suit, the following clip from Sex and The City came to mind:
Between family life and work life (FemFusion group exercise classes, my upcoming book release, and various other projects that are in the works) I have been so busy and single-minded with my mental focus that I have completely neglected my New Year’s Resolution of trying to dress, groom, and conduct myself in a more ladylike fashion. And dressing, grooming, and conducting myself in a more ladylike manner was one of the sole reasons for starting this series of blog posts, 365 Days of Fem!
I am facing you (the blogosphere) with full-disclosure of my current state of disheveled-ness: Despite best intentions, I still roll around in my yoga pants all day long, and sometimes realize — as I prep dinner — that I have yet to shower for the day. Furthermore, I mentioned in my Valentine’s Day post that I have been over-indulging lately, and I’m paying for it with a bloated tummy and acne. Today’s post is not a statement of self-loathing or self-pity, it’s simply a statement of fact: I am not looking my best right now. I am not taking care of myself the way I should be or want to be, and this needs to change. I have no desire to be a slave to beauty and fashion; however, in order for me to feel my best, I need to start paying more attention to myself.
So this weekend, this lovely three-day weekend, I am going to do two things. I’m going to bid adieu to unwanted body hair, and I’m going to paint my nails. Fingers and toes! It’s not much, but it’s a start. I don’t know when the “lady” in me left the building, but she’s gone, and I need to get her back.
How do you reconnect with your feminine side when you feel like she has left the building? What is your favorite beauty ritual? Do you feel guilty when you take time for yourself for beauty/fashion/self-care? Let’s chat: Your stories might help others (and me)! Please comment below.
Excellent post, Bri! I am beyond pathetic in this regard. It seems like ever since becoming a mom, I have grown accustomed to taking care of everyone, making sure everyone’s needs are met… everyone’s but mine it seems sometimes. Don’t take me wrong, I LOVE the fact that my family is able to eat delicious paleo healthy home cooked meals every day, for example. And, honestly, some of it IS even taking care of my needs: I LOVE not having my kids get sick in the midst of the school cold/ flu season: taking care of a sick kiddo or being sick myself, for that matter, is definitely not going to get my any closer to enjoying the things I want to enjoy or doing things for myself. But I need to get better at “giving myself a break.” I don’t need much but I want to be able to put my feet up and read a book at least for a few minutes a day when kids are at school. I NEED not to feel like jumping back up from sitting down to read as in”OH MY, that floor is sooo dirty, better vacuum now, forget the book.” And the other thing I am working on hard is to make my actual feelings heard. As in, if I don’t speak up to the people who love me the most (my family) how would they even know my needs are not being met?
Agreed — it is SO hard to give yourself a break and not get sidetracked by all of the other things that “could” or “should” be getting done instead. It can be very hard to “relax” when other tasks are calling your name. Like my nail painting, for example…It’s been my plan to do it all day long, and I’m about to… But I desperately want to finish up the laundry so that I don’t have to worry about it later. I like to take care of things — no time like the present, you know? In many cases I would just DO THE LAUNDRY so that I could fully focus on the fun/relaxing (to me) task of painting my nails, but I know that if I do the laundry I will inevitably find 10 other things to do and then I’ll end up going to bed without doing the damn nails. And I’m GOING to do them tonight. So this evening, I’m not succumbing to the siren call of the laundry. I’m going to do my nails — RIGHT NOW.
Julia – today, you MUST put your feet up and read a book. Let’s do this together, girlfriend.