took a series of photographs of myself today, and was happy with it :). (nope, am not going to publish them here. a little anonymity must be preserved…) 1 month ago

this is a goal quite a few people have on this website, so I read “how I did it” entries and felt much better after that :).
and I also took a nice bath and lathered my dry winter skin in lavish lotions…feels much better… 1 month ago

Many things are affecting how attractive I feel. The pain in my foot from the refusing-to-goddamn-heal plantar fasciitis, the stiff right calf that is apparently causing it, the loss of physical strength during the long healing process from the hip injury that started it all, the extra weight that I have simultaneously picked up, and my attitude towards my body (that I cannot be beautiful because I don’t have long, elegant calves).

I’ve learned that if I correct all the physical problems I will feel better but still not beautiful because my attitude towards my body is so negative.

I’ve also learned that I can’t just work on my attitude because at the end of the day, the physical problems leave me feeling sort of unspritely and less capable.

I shall have to work on all these issues together. I have a lot of hope about achieving this goal in the end. After all, my hip has finally healed from surgery. I’m now able to lift my knee up well over 90 degrees and have even started very gentle squats – unthinkable just a few months ago!

I also recently spoke to someone who had successfully managed to heal her stubborn plantar fasciitis by rolling her foot over a tennis ball and she talked me through how to do it. If it goes as well for me as it did for her, it should take about 2 months to correct.

Finally, I have learned that nice clothes and accessories help a lot. Above all, they should fit well, which means I may have to get over my loathing for shopping and actually shop around.

Here’s to feeling beautiful before the year is out! 4 months ago

And I feel that I’m being treated better. Can’t work out if it’s because I look better and people are shallow, or if it’s because I feel better and that’s either affecting others emotionally or causing me to interpret things more positively.

At the end of the day I don’t care. I am finally getting results with this goal! 4 months ago

They feel great. Everything fits perfectly, like a glove. That never happens. I’ll trawl through a whole shop and find maybe one thing I like that fits ok. But never quite perfectly. I think it might be the store I went to this time. I’ll be going back there in future :)

What’s even better is that I actually feel beautiful in these clothes. I even bought myself jeans that end at the knee. This is something I’ve avoided for many, many years basically because I hate my calves. Other ladies have long elegant or athletic calves. Mine are muscular and strong and have always left me feeling unattractive. Somehow they look ok in these shorts.

I’m also trying to focus on thinking of ‘muscular’ and ‘strong’ as positive words for a woman instead of feeling like it must mean I’m a neanderthal. I’m sick of feeling ugly just because there’s one thing about my body I don’t like. 4 months ago

My legs are like rails, and sometimes I feel like my head is way too small, and my big nose makes it worse. I don’t feel beautiful unless I wear makeup, my hair is perfect and my outfit suits my body. I either have to learn how to feel beautiful or not care about being beautiful. It’s going to be hard.

My step one: Get over jealousy of women I find more attractive.

It’ll feel so good to get past this and stop comparing myself. 5 months ago

I saw this goal in my list, and I’m trying to decide if I should mark it as complete. How awesome is that!

After so many years of struggling, I am starting to really love me for me. All of me.

Now that I’ve had a baby you would think I would be struggling more than ever. Not so! How could I have felt so terrible about myself at sixteen? I wish I could go back and give that poor girl a hug, and tell her she would grow into her beauty. I would also tell her that part of that beauty would be the kind of self-confidence that makes people look past whatever she thought was wrong. I know who I am now, and that confidence is sexy (just ask my husband ;).

I lost all the baby weight and I look awesome, but I bear scars of motherhood. And you know what? I am proud of them. I earned those marks. I made another person, and my body deserves respect for what it has done. I respect myself, and I wouldn’t trade my daughter or my sense of self for an eternity as that awkward sixteen year old girl I once was – no matter how lovely.

I feel beautiful, and I hope I never lose that feeling again. 7 months ago

I used to only feel beautiful when someone told me, which growing up, it didn’t come from most people. But, over the years, through lots of heartaches and learning things the hard way (I don’t care to do it this way any longer), as God removed mindsets that were wrong, and replaced them with His thoughts of who He says I am, I realize that I am beautiful no matter what.

It has taken me over 40 yrs to realize this, but God is good and He is patient. Though I love to hear people tell me I’m beautiful, it’s only a bonus, rather than a need. God calls me beautiful, so I believe Him.

As I sit here in a towel, with hair dye in my hair, and haven’t showered in 2 days, with a tummy . . . I still feel absolutely gorgeous. 7 months ago