#BlogFest #50DaysCountDownTo2015 – Day 7. Written by @mchantel , she blogs at www.mchantella.blogspot.com‘I’m so fat!’‘Look at my arms, so big!’‘I don’t like the way I look!’ These kinds of statements are the ones you almost never hear come out of a man’s mouth. Even the ones with ‘beer bellies’. They own those bellies mehn. In general, women, we tend to degrade our bodies on a much broader scale than men do. We do it to ourselves, other women, and some to even their children. Sometimes what we fail to understand is that we can pass on our insecurities by being preoccupied with our weight and appearances. Little kids think the world of their moms, dads, aunties and uncles. They look at us as beauty queens and super heroes. So when they see you calling yourself fat and grunting at the mirror, not eating at all just so you can fit into that nice dress, or jumping on the latest diet band wagon, it makes them question their own beauty and weight. If the people they carry so dearly and highly aren’t good enough, how can they be? Commercials and magazines don’t make it easier. These days, almost every magazine airbrushes inches off thighs, sharpens cheekbones, erases stretch marks and makes waist look smaller. They make models look like walking Barbie dolls. Don’t eat this don’t eat that. Every TV commercial, shows women eating cereals or yoghurts to lose weight or a celebrity with an endorsement by weightwatchers. Whether we refuse to see our mistakes or our greatness, the thing is we are not seeing ourselves for who we really are. When we put ourselves down or someone else, we ignore our own gifts and dismiss our beauty. Sometimes what we fail to understand is that beauty radiates from the inside out. When people give you a compliment, accept it, say thank you. But instead of feeling grateful and whole, we insert an excuse or diminish our light. Your food really taste amazing!                 ‘Oh the recipe was really easy.’Your dress looks amazing!                           ‘You like this? It’s old oh.’Your hair looks amazing!                             ‘Doesn’t it make me look old?’ Oh for goodness sakes can we just learn to say ‘thank you’. When are YOU going to start accepting and embracing your beauty and your strengths? The next time someone pays you a compliment, don’t minimize their words. Simply say ‘thank you’. And if you are a parent, you owe it to your children to look in the mirror each time and say ‘I look incredible’. If you don’t love you first, who would? You’re beautiful and amazing always remember that.Stay beautiful always.Also read ‘GIVE UP ON LOVE AND GIVE UP ON YOURSELF’ & ‘STOP PHONE SNOOPING’ by ChantelWritten by Chantel, twitter- @mchantelhttp://mchantella.blogspot.com/For inquiries, send mails to elsieisy@gmail.com or tweet at @elsieisy