iluvsparkles...

firegirlred

Is that a new picture of you as your avatar? You look great!

firegirlred

Is that a new picture of you as your avatar? You look great!

iluvsparkles

it is!! and thank you sooo soo much. I am very flattered!

lina1131

Look at that amazing body. WOOT WOOT!

laurenk182004

You r looking HOT em! Look at that belly (or lack there of) I am so jealous!

iluvsparkles

thank you guys so much. really, i mean that.

there are some days that i am really just PO'd at the American Media.

I know I have mentioned it before, but even now, after losing weight and finally getting the body that I was hoping for in CLOTHES, I am still so obsessed with getting bikini ready... I just wish sometimes, that I could be happier with where I am and how far i have come. Even after compliments from you all, i still see my old figure when i look in the mirror and hate looking at myself naked... I know it is nitpicky but I can't seem to stop myself from just over anylizing every little pudge and roll.

SOrry yall..must be TOM talking again, but thanks for letting me be all pouty!!

AJCM

Girl, you ARE bikini ready!!!! Trust me, I was just at a resort and at the beach, and VERY few looked as good as you!!!! I think you've hit the nail on the head - it is in your head. Know that you are looking amazing, and hit the beach in that bikini! Everyone will be drooling over those abs!!!
:flowerforyou:

lina1131

If your body is not bikini ready than I must be smokin' some crack. You are definitely bikini ready. Your body is amazing!

iluvsparkles

you guys are so so sweet..

i think my problem is definitely that my head sees things differently than they are in reality... How do you fix that???
when I am looking in the mirror, i find it so hard to be happy with what I have, even tho i realize that the body i am striving for it not exactly attainable. ( i have never been able to see my ribs, and I know that its not healthy really to see ribs but my brain has it ingrained as part of being bikini ready even tho i know my body will never be that thin!)

i want to have a super flat stomach, especially the pudge below my bellybutton..which i know is alot of folks problem area and will never really 'go away' ( i told you i am a nitpicker perfectionist at its finest)
..but at this point i am doing everything in my power to fix it! i do so much cardio and pilates...

i just need some way to reset my brain into thinking it is OK to wear a bikini even if you dont look like this:

tashjs21

The problem is most of those women don't even look like that. Air brushing and lighting and all the nasty little tricks that make us want to attain the unattainable. :explode: Plus, I was looking somewhere the other day of pictures of stars out at the beach (and not on photo shoots like that one) and even though they were tiny frame wise, a lot of them were flabby and had cellulite.
You look fantastic and should rock that bikini and be proud of what you have accomplished.

lina1131

And honestly, your body is nicer than hers.

iluvsparkles

goooood point natasha. You would think that I, the photoshop queen of the world, would automatically think of that!! (and btw i actually have NOT photoshopped any of the photos of myself, no matter how tempted i was to, it would just be lying!)

SO in my next post, i am just going to post pictures like you described, with celebs Not touched up..that might make us all feel a little better about ourselves...

also, as AJCM mentioned earlier, i saw some pictures of a couple of my friends out on the beach, and i didnt actually notice that there were quite a few folks in bikinis that didnt really fit my heads definition of bikini ready...soooo that again just goes to show that it is mostly in my head!

ps i think if i had time to get a tan, i would feel much better about myself...

iluvsparkles

look they evened out her boobs!

LokiFae

Yeah, but look how fierce she looks without being touched up. It's just insane the way the advertising industry has us lusting over a body that isn't attainable. Since I've been on MFP, I've been seeing my body a whole lot differently. I'm never going to look like a touched up photo of a celebrity, because that's not even what THEY look like.

I think you're way beyond bikini ready, and the best part about it is, you will actually be able to run and jump in a bikini instead of wheezing your way down to the beach to plop on a towel.

AJCM

Yeah, the celebs DON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE THAT!!!!
:huh:

I think real is always best!!!! And your reality is great!!!
:flowerforyou: