Be nice to yourself....

I walked into a 7-Eleven the other day and could not help but overhear a conversation between the cashier and a customer. It didn't take me long to get the gist of their conversation. Diet pills and what works. "So, if I take that one, I won't be hungry?" she says. "Nope", the other one says. "Oh, I gotta have it, then!!", was the reply. I was in line by then and said to the cashier, who was the one wanting the diet pills, "I think you are beautiful just the way you are." I meant it. She laughed and said I was beautiful, too! I said "Well,thank you. We all are!" Then I told her we as women need to be nice to ourselves. She was of average build and I personally don't think she needed to take diet pills.

Then today I was on Facebook and a comment was posted about a billboard that was seen about plastic surgery and basically it said to come visit this doctor after your body gets "ruined " by pregnancy. My friend that posted this was irritated by it and wondered who else was. I read some of the comments and felt so sad to read several girls, who only one I know personally, said yes, pregnancy did indeed ruin their bodies. That some of them were planning some plastic surgery to "fix" their post-baby bodies. How can this be? How can we look at ourselves as women after creating a life and say it has "ruined" our bodies? Thoughts and feelings like these only come from one source. It is not from our Heavenly Father, either! The Adversary will never have a body. He will never have an eternal family. He will never have children. So, he does all he can to make us as women despise our bodies. The media and Hollywood help him in this goal, big time!

My body has changed since having kids. By the world's standards, my body is not pretty at all. But, my body is a gift from my Heavenly Father and I bet it saddens him when we think or say negative things about our bodies. I don't want my children to ever hear me say anything negative about my body. Ever. I want to teach them to love their bodies and to take good care of them. Staying healthy by eating right and exercising, all done in moderation. When negative thoughts creep in my mind about my body, I try hard to recognize where they are coming from, and to keep those thoughts at bay.

My body has been through a lot in the past 4 years. Four pregnancies, four losses, two D&C's, and two "deliveries" of babies that stopped growing inside me. I gained and lost weight like a yo-yo through it all. I have not been able to exercise consistently since I have had a lot of time either being sick with morning sickness, or recovering from a loss. But, I have not let this stop me from trying for another baby. The world would probably frown at me for not losing all the weight I should before trying again. But, I am stubborn that way, I guess. Having a baby is a gift. It does not ruin your body.

If we feel like we aren't where we want to be with our weight, ok, lovingly take better care of yourself. Make changes in your diet or exercise, but do it with love. Go easy on yourself. I don't want to loose weight to please the world, I want to loose weight to be more healthy. That is a good reason, isn't it?!

I teach the Beehives in Young Women's right now. I so remember being that age. I was so hard on myself at times. Things have gotten worse and the pressures are even greater now to be perfect than they were when I was that age. I taught a lesson recently and stressed the importance of not listening to the media and letting our Heavenly Father be our guide. Not the TV or a celebrity. I hope they listened. I hope I can listen and do better, too!

I guess I want us all as women to love ourselves and be nice to ourselves. Having children did not ruin my body. It completed it. :)