Positive Thinking

  • Happiness, Mind and Soul, Motherhood, Positive Thinking

    Let’s Talk About Wearing A Swimsuit In Public

    [Tweet “Let’s Talk About Wearing A Swimsuit In Public”]

    In the last few weeks, I’ve been taking advantage of the lovely summer weather and going to the beach. I am all about the beach bum life. I love sea, sun and sand. It only comes naturally as an island girl. It’s so relaxing to get to the beach and strip down to enjoy the warm sun on usually covered parts of your body. I find it to be a liberating experience and I just bask in that freedom. The first time we went to the beach this season, we were so focused on our Father’s Day treasure hunt that I didn’t pay much attention to other fellow beach bums. However, last week I had all the time to focus and dare I say stare a bit. I noticed something that bothered me a whole lot. Moms who seemed to be determined to hide their bodies. Now, of course, I don’t know everyone’s story but what I saw felt like a trend, women on the beach with their families wearing t-shirts over their bathing suits or fully clothed. I saw one mom go into the water fully clothed. This bothered me on many levels. I know that our society isn’t the nicest to us, we are told that our bodies are unattractive after bringing life into the world and if we don’t look like the ladies on the runways we aren’t beautiful.

    [Tweet “Don’t sacrifice your fun because of society’s beauty standards.”]

    We need to refuse to believe those lies. We are beautiful! Having babies is beautiful and it makes us much more beautiful. All of the experiences that lead us to lose or gain weight makes us more beautiful. The beautiful kids that we are raising see us as beautiful.

    [Tweet “Encourage fellow moms to see their beauty.”]

    If you don’t believe you’re beautiful, wear your swimsuit anyway. I am 10 pounds heavier than my usual weight and I didn’t let that stop me from wearing my swimsuit. When I see another mom post a photo on social media in her swimsuit, I make sure to compliment her to encourage not just her but her followers. We can let other moms know it’s okay. Really, it’s okay to wear a swimsuit! Ask your husband, I’m sure he doesn’t want to see you getting into the water on the beach in jeans and a t-shirt. If we change our expectations of each other, we will change our expectations of ourselves and not be too hard on ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not preaching here. I am part of the congregation.

    If you’re on Instagram, share your #MySwimsuitStyle. Fellow mom Mimi of MimiCuteLips have an awesome campaign to encourage women to boldly share swimsuit photos.

    Leave me a comment letting me know why you do or not wear a swimsuit to the beach?

     

  • Mind and Soul, Positive Thinking

    Daily Positive Affirmations

    Here’s a simple tool to make it towards the end of 2015 proud and celebrating more success than defeats. It’s by starting every single day with an open heart and a positive attitude. I am a strong believer in incorporating daily positive affirmations into my morning routine.

    [Tweet “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. – Willie Nelson”]

    It all started when I attended a corporate retreat a few years ago. My coworkers and I were looking forward to an easy day but instead we ended up learning how to grow personally. Now if you know anything about me, you know that any new knowledge that furthers my self-development really gets me excited. One of the sessions was on the importance of a daily positive affirmations practice. You see as Iyanla Vanzant put it, we sometimes have “humping puppies” in our heads. You know how you train your puppy and it behaves well but soon as a guest comes over he starts humping on their legs nonstop. Well, when we start to believe negative things about ourselves and our lives they behave like humping puppies in our heads. If let’s say your humping puppy is saying “I’m stupid” no matter what you do, you will think “I’m stupid”, “I’m stupid”, “I’m stupid.” This could have been something a relative said to you out of anger as a child and it stuck with you for all these years. If you make a typo on a report at work or take the wrong exit on the highway, you’re going to say “I’m stupid” and it will become part of your belief system. Here’s the thing though, we are Moms in Heels, we are not and we have no time to nurture negativity in our minds and within our families. That’s why I wanted to share this list of daily positive affirmations. You can print them and put them up above your work area or in your bathroom or just memorize them to recite during your commute or your times of stillness.

    positive-affirmations

    If you usually wake up feeling anxious or with a negative mindset, here is my nighttime routine to ensure I wake up with positive energy. Click here for the article, you may find it helpful.

    Don’t be afraid to practice daily affirmations with your kids, on the way to school every morning the Princess Fairy and I point the day in a positive direction by reciting these and other kid friendly ones (I’ll share hers in another post).

    Daily Positive Affirmations to make in 2015:

    dailyPOSITIVEAFFIRMATIONS

    I feel energized.
    I have a mission.
    I choose happiness.
    I can do this.
    I am compassionate.
    I love myself.
    I am in charge of me.
    I am present.
    I put me first.
    I am making good choices.
    I am ready.
    I am on my way.
    I am connected to life.
    I trust myself.
    I can do anything.
    I have what I need.
    I know my life has meaning.
    I hold things tightly.
    I listen to my heart.
    I am blessed.
    I am happy.
    I can change.
    I am taking steps to be healthier.
    I am beautiful.
    I love my body more and more.
    I speak gently to myself.
    I look forward.
    I won’t be taken for granted.
    I am powerful.
    I am becoming who I want to be.
    I am connected to all there is.
    My heart is open.
    I matter.
    I discover new joys of living every day.
    I move at the perfect pace.
    I trust my inner wisdom and intuition.

     

     Are positive affirmations a part of your morning routine?

  • Breastfeeding, Positive Thinking, Pregnancy

    How to Measure Your Bra Size & Hotmilk Lingerie Nursing Bra Giveaway (Closed)

    I am hosting this giveaway on behalf of Hotmilk Lingerie. As usual, all opinions are my own.

    When I was younger, my mother owned a lingerie store and I worked there for about 3 years. In that time, I learned the importance of the right undergarments. I’m so glad that I had that experience because I always focus on my undergarments when I dress. Let’s face it, you can have the most gorgeous dress but if your underwear doesn’t fit well or the wrong size it will ruin your outfit. I think the hardest period for us women to find the perfect underwear pieces especially bras is immediately after giving birth. I shared some tips and outfit ideas here and in my postpartum styling video to get through that period but I wanted to ensure that you get the right size bra. It’s important that you educate yourself on bra measurements and to find the right size.  You may need to abandon these bras later as your body changes again and you lose pregnancy weight but to be comfortable I would recommend that you invest in a few new bras for this period.

    bra size

    If you don’t feel comfortable with a stranger taking your measurements or you are ordering online you can measure your bust size at home.

    how-to-measure-your-bra-size

    Okay, so once you’ve determined your size it’s time to get a new bra. Finding nursing bras that don’t look like granny underwear is a serious challenge. Recently, I learned about Hotmilk Lingerie which got me really excited. I have to say that I love this company’s name, fits the brand perfectly. Hotmilk sells beautiful nursing and maternity bras. If you are determined to not slip up and lose your sexy during and after pregnancy these bras are perfect for you. What I love about Hotmilk is their flexi-wire system, I remember my Lamaze class teacher telling us to purchase nursing bras without under-wires during my first pregnancy and thinking “Say what?” She explained that under-wires reduce your milk production. That may be the case for some women (wasn’t for me) but if you want to be on the safe side the flexi-wire is perfect or you can choose from the brand wire-less bras which are perfect for sleeping in.  Here’s everything you need to know about how flexiwire works.

    Here are some of my favorite styles from Hotmilk Lingerie.

    Nursing Bras

    hot milk

    Hotmilk-Lingerie-Dawn-Black-Nursing-Bra

    Hotmilk-Lingerie-Chic-Pink-Nursing-Bra

    Their prices are average for bras, most on their website were $57 with some on sale for $29. Hotmilk is based in Australia but they ship worldwide and shipping is free over $80. If you’re pregnant or nursing, I have good news for you because Hotmilk is sponsoring a giveaway to one of my readers of their Dawn Black nursing bra. ps: This bra is wireless. You can check out their website here. Giveaway ends on December 18, 2014.

    Hotmilk-Lingerie-Dawn-Black-Nursing

    I’m so excited for the hot mama who wins this bra. Good luck!

    Hotmilk Nursing Bra Giveaway