"The Just Be Series" January: Britt from Art By Britt

Remember the "Just Be Series"? Of course you do, because it reminded you that you aren't alone in your "I feel awful about myself" days. It reminded you that you are beautiful and loved, even when you eat cold pizza for breakfast three days in a row (guilty!).

For those of you who do not remember the series, I posted my own issues with my body last month and was so overwhelmed with the positive feedback I received that I asked some of my friends to come be my guests and write about how they feel beautiful and stay confident.

Here are my past guests:

Amy

Lauren

Danielle

Kelly

Brawner

If you want to be a part of the "Just Be Series" email me: alwaysashten@gmail.com 

Today, we have the lovely Britt from Art by Britt. I've known Britt since middle school, but we never really ran in the same circles. She and Danielle are close friends, and through my friendship with Danielle, I began to know who Britt was. We didn't really start talking until we started reading each other's blogs. (Thanks internet!) She also shares my love for a good cup of coffee, so I knew we were destined to be friends. Britt is a fabulously talented, wonderful soul whose creativity and artistic capabilities make me green with envy. Britt has a gorgeous daughter, a loving family and her art ain't too shabby! She's just the sweetest lady and I know you're going to want to be her friend. I hope you enjoy her story. 

Where to begin... like Danielle said in her post, my body and I have also always had a love/hate relationship. When I was younger I always felt just a little bit chubbier, a little bit bigger, a little less pretty than then other girls my age. I've always known in my head that my worth is not just what I look like and that it is, in fact, SO much more than that, but it seems like the world says the opposite. I started running cross country my freshman year in high school and that pretty much gave me permission to eat whatever I wanted. After I quit cross country, I didn't really change my eating habits so I gained a bunch of weight. My freshman year in college I was heartbroken over a boy and really stopped eating because my heart just felt so "sick." Like Amy, the pattern or gain weight lose weight has been a struggle for me for a long time. It seems to me like food was something that I didn't care about or think about if things in life were going well (totally a comfort thing). When things got hard I usually became more disciplined in my eating and exercise because it was something to focus on other than the bummer life situations. 

I think a lot of the women in my life growing up have struggled with weight and beauty too - I often heard things like, "Gosh, I'm so poured into my pants," or "Those cookies are SO bad," or "I'm so disgusted with myself..." I'll be honest, those things can really screw up the way a girl looks at herself. I learned pretty early on that I didn't not want to weigh myself every day or dwell in disappointment when I ate a cookie instead of lettuce. I knew that movie stars and models are not real, healthy, curvy women and that I should not compare myself to them... I've tried to train my brain and heart against those impossible ideals and to be real when it comes to all these things. These things I know, I am short and squatty, I will never be stick thin, and I like food. That's the truth and it's ok!

When I met my (now) husband in 2006 I realized how out of tune I was with my body. He would eat raw spinach out of the bag for lunch and talk about what his body needed. Um, what? I was eating quesadillas because, well, they taste good. Duh. He really helped me to think about what my body was craving and while I didn't ever become an expert, I really felt more aware of all that. I worked hard to exercise and eat well with that attitude that anything in moderation is ok. I felt good and fit and was happy with myself even though I wasn't (nor will I ever be) "thin."

After we both gained 15 pounds (!) of comfort weight in our first year of marriage, we worked hard to get back on track... and of course found out shortly after that, that I was pregnant! I wouldn't trade my daughter and that pregnancy for anything, but it sure changed my body a lot all over again! She is now 15 months old and I am finally feeling a little bit more myself in my body. I'm back to pre-baby weight and working on getting more fit.

I'm working hard to make healthy meals for our family and to use word about my body that build up instead of tear down. We are working on more exercise and outdoor time as a family and are hopeful that it eventually won't take so much effort, but will just be our lifestyle! I really want my daughter to know her worth beyond her beauty, and I will have a ginormous role in teaching her that.  I can be totally honest when I say that I don't have it all figured out. I don't always eat enough vegetables or drink enough water. I drink way too much coffee and I know I'll never give up sugar. But I'm also a lot more realistic about what makes me beautiful, and I'm working on just resting in that.