Healthy Mind, Healthy Life

We caught up this month with Too Hot To Handle’s Sophie Stonehouse where she bares all about her relationship with body positivity and how it has helped her re-gain control over herself, her go-to selflove rituals, and her battle with body dysmorphia.

Daily Habits

At this stage in my life I am really struggling to maintain a workout routine. It’s something that I am working on, as I would love to get back into fitness fully. Despite this, I ensure that every day I go on a nice long walk and if can find the time, I will do a Pilates or a yoga class in the morning or evening. I am the biggest foodie, so I find it very difficult to say no to the naughty things. I try and stick to two meals a day. I tend to have a late brunch that consists of boiled eggs and a homemade smoothie and then for my dinner I have been using Hello Fresh which I love. It really helps with my portion control and always satisfies my cravings.

Self-love

To me, self-love means taking care of one’s self. I take my self-care/love very seriously and ensure that it’s a part of my daily practice. I make sure that I pamper myself every day. I choose when I get ready for the day or when I get ready for bed to implement this self-care. I will either do a skincare routine or a hair mask, anything that you can think of that links to a good old pamper. I also make sure that I am consistent with a feel-good morning and evening routine that I do every day. I wake up and tidy my flat, light all of my candles, burn my incense, and sage my apartment. It creates a really lovely atmosphere.

Body positivity

It’s taken a long time and it hasn’t been easy, but I have just accepted that people don’t really care that much about what you look like. Even when you’re feeling your worst, no one is looking at you in public and thinking “she looks her worst right now”. I have accepted that one of my favourite things is yummy food! So, I will never be ridiculously thin and I’m okay with that. I would rather enjoy the food I love. However, I know that when I am starting to dislike my body that it’s self-inflicted and I do have the power to change it if I want to. Knowing that I have the power gives me a sense of control.

Body dysmorphia

I have definitely experienced body dysmorphia first hand. I fully understood that my way of thinking directly linked to body dysmorphia after I went through a stressful period in my life. Throughout lockdown I turned to fitness and health, it was my main focus throughout that period of time. After we came out of lockdown, I found it very difficult to maintain the same amount of exercise as I did through the first lockdown. I went back to work and finally had my life back, which meant I didn’t have the same amount of time. Because of this, I convinced myself that I was gaining weight. I look back at pictures of myself from that time and I was ridiculously thin, my boobs and bum had practically disappeared, I remember hating my body. After having this realisation, I accepted that body dysmorphia was something that I was going to live with. I know from past experiences I’m probably never going to be fully happy with my body – I don’t know if anyone truly is. I have come to terms with the fact that even if I was in the best shape of my life, I probably would still find something to complain about. Ultimately, I have accepted my body the way it is and I’m happy with that and who I am.