Tag Archives: positive

Nov10

How To Increase Your Body Confidence This Year

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How To Increase Your Body Confidence This Year

Feeling confident in your own skin is something that we all deserve to experience, yet so many of us don’t. If you know that you’d really like to take control of your body confidence this year, it’s time to do something about it! Here’s how to get started:

Be Kind to Yourself:

When you’re done with feeling down and you know you want to feel more confident, the best way to start is by making sure that you’re kind to yourself. It’s counterintuitive to want to feel more confident, yet constantly be self-deprecating. When you aim to make a big change in life, it can feel overwhelming, and you can resist it. Start off small, be kind to yourself mentally and physically, and let yourself embrace the change as it comes.

Move Your Body More:

The next thing for you to focus on is movement. This isn’t to change your body type unless it’s something that you want to do. The whole idea here is that exercise is going to bring you endorphins, and they’re going to make you feel good. Alongside that, as you start to gain more energy and you build more muscle in your body, it’s going to make you feel much more confident in your own skin. What’s not to love about that?

Work on Your Insecurities:

If you do have insecurities, it’s important to make sure that you’re tackling them rather than letting yourself worry about parts of your body that you don’t like. Looking to change them or transform them can make a difference. For example, if you’ve spent years trying to lose stubborn belly fat and it’s not shifting, opting for a tummy tuck could be the perfect thing for you. Turning to surgery used to be such a taboo topic but there is absolutely no shame in it. You can learn to love your insecurities, but sometimes changing them is exactly what you need.

Dress for Your Body Shape:

One really easy trick to make sure that you feel more body confident is to make sure that you’re dressing for your body shape. It’s easy to look at the different trends and want to adopt them, but if they don’t work for your figure, you may not feel good. Instead, when you focus on wearing clothes that work with your body shape and make you feel more confident, it’s going to really impact how you feel on a daily basis.

Empower Yourself:

Ultimately, it’s all about empowering yourself. This is something that you need to curate and you need to drive. When you feel more empowered, you naturally feel more confident. It’s not just about working on the way that you look, it’s working on your mind too. Adopting a more positive, self-supportive, and encouraging mindset is the best gift you can give yourself. When you start to speak to yourself better and treat yourself better, you’ll feel a lot more empowered. Empowerment is a state of being that can create more confidence, and it is exactly what you need this year.

Boosting your confidence is all about talking the talk and walking the walk too. Set small goals to start with and you will keep feeling better and better!

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Sep25

3 Mental Health Tips To Help Yourself Feel Better

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3 Mental Health Tips To Help Yourself Feel Better

Mental health is becoming more and more of a priority around the world, and for good reason. By looking after your mental health, you can make sure you have a long and happy life. As obvious as that is, it’s a lot harder to put into practice. Managing your mental health can often be tricky to put into practice, especially when you’ve been diagnosed with a specific condition. But, it’s not impossible. More than a few mental health tips can help with this. Not only should they make everything more manageable, but they could even improve your mental health more than you might’ve thought. Three of these are more than worth trying out because of the impact they can have:

Understand Your Triggers:

Most mental health conditions have triggers, especially when it comes to anxiety and panic disorders. These can vary from person to person, so take the time to understand your triggers. It puts you in a position to actively manage them. Once you have a proper understanding of your triggers, you can plan a way around them. If anxiety attacks are triggered by a specific location, for example, you can plan to avoid them. Less tangible triggers could need some work with a professional to mitigate going forward.

Proactively Manage Stress:

Speaking of triggers, stress can be one of the more notable of these. A stressful event could trigger an anxiety attack or something similar, so be as proactive as possible with your stress. You can use more than a few strategies for this, like yoga, deep breathing, or exercise. Then there’s the likes of medical cannabis and other options. You’ll usually need a prescription for these, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t help. They’ve even been shown to help with the symptoms of anxiety and depression, too.

Should you not be able to get a prescription for medical cannabis, it’s okay! Dispensaries and online shopping options are available to make your purchase. You could consider buying Bulk Weed Canada (or your local area) to keep yourself well stocked. Dispensaries also carry edibles and vape cartridges if you prefer those methods better.

Be Kind:

Sometimes, helping with your mental health doesn’t have to focus on you. By being kind and helping to make the world a better place, you could end up having a great positive impact on your mental health. It’ll help more and more as time goes on. Even a simple act of helping a stranger pick up the groceries they dropped could help. If you want to see a significant impact, then regularly volunteering to help a charity could be an excellent way to do this. Find what you’re passionate about and see what volunteering options are available in your community to get started.

Looking after your mental health doesn’t always need to be as complicated as you think. With the right management skills, there’s no reason you shouldn’t improve your mental health and feel better in time. You’ll end up with a happier, better life before you know it!

Featured Image By: Marcus Paolo Prado from Unsplash

Aug27

How To Feel More Confident In Your Skin

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How To Feel More Confident In Your Skin

More often than not, most of us will feel insecure. It may not be intense insecurity, and it may not severely impact our daily lives, but we can feel it all the same. It might be not feeling that confident in our jobs or worrying about how we look when we’re out with friends. As much as it can be frustrating, it’s quite common. But that doesn’t mean that you have to accept it as normal and live that way forever. In fact, you can look to do something about it as soon as possible!

It’s easy to think that some people are confident and others aren’t, but that’s not strictly true. Confidence isn’t something you’re born with; it’s something that’s built. If you’d love to be able to feel more confident in your skin and say goodbye to your insecurities, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’re going to take a look at the best ways for you to feel more confident in who you are:

Practice Positive Self-Talk:

First of all, you may want to change the way you talk to yourself. If you’re used to being tough on yourself and beating yourself up in the way you think and speak about yourself, it’s going to really lower your confidence. When you’re more positive, it can help you to feel a lot more confident and happier in yourself.

Prioritize Self-Care:

It can also help to look after yourself a little better. It’s easy to think that self-care is just pampering and caring too much about your appearance, but it’s far from that. It can be relaxing, helping your mental health, and boosting your mood as well as your confidence. You may find that starting a self-care routine drastically changes how you feel.

Focus on Feeling Good:

You should also be proactive about feeling good in yourself. Buying new bras, taking yourself for a walk, or even having a little solo date night could help you to feel recharged and boost your mood. Treat yourself to something nice, grab a coffee from your favorite cafe, or simply take a pause when you feel like you could use a pick me up. When you find what works to boost your mood, you can keep turning back to it as often as you need.

Dress for Confidence:

You can also look to what you wear for a lot more confidence. You may find that if you’re wearing things that don’t make you feel good, getting excited about what you wear can change everything. Take yourself out shopping or order some options online. Once you find some pieces you love, you may feel a lot more confident in your skin. When you dress with clothes that fit well and enhance your best features, you are going to love what you see when you look in the mirror.

Embrace yourself, your quirks, and what makes you you. Doing so will always make you feel so much happier and confident in who you are!

Featured Image By: Unsplash

May28

TikTok Talk

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TikTok Talk

Hello!! As you all know, I am a word girl through and through. I have always preferred blogging as my main outlet which is why I was never particularly interested in incorporating video content too. However, after making a big life change, I had more free time on my hands, said “why not?”, and started my TikTok in mid March. This was not to take the place of my blog, but to enhance it with footage of OOTDs, bloopers, cooking, and whatever else strikes my fancy. After one day on the social media platform, I finally got what all the fuss is about because it is kind of fun!

I have no delusions of becoming a TikTok star, even though it would be awesome. I’m just proud of the fact that people are actually watching my content. Even if it was just one person, I would be proud because video content isn’t in my comfort zone and I decided to go for it anyways. And, I’ve got to say, after two months I feel pretty awesome about my amount of likes and almost ONE HUNDRED followers!

Slow and steady wins the race and even if my page’s progress isn’t astronomical, it’s there, and that’s good enough for me. And, as another old cliche goes, if you never try, you never know. While video content isn’t my forte, you don’t need to be Spielberg to create a video and post it on TikTok. Had I didn’t give it the old college try, I wouldn’t have realized how much fun it is to create in a new medium. Whether you’re thinking about starting a blog, going to the gym, growing a garden, or making a profile on a different social media platform – go for it! If you end up not liking it, it’s okay. The most important thing is that you gave it a shot and you know one way or the other. I definitely expected to fall off of my TikTok a few days in but I have posted daily content since its creation. Your new favorite thing could be just one try away!

As always, give me a follow on TikTok @lilred6794 and keep pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. You never know what opportunities will come from it!

Have you tried something new recently? How did it go? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May26

Don’t Knock It!

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Don’t Knock It!

Hello!! Those of you who have been long term readers of lifewithlilred will know that I absolutely despise going to the dentist due to a horrible oral surgery gone wrong. For those of you who are just tuning in: I absolutely despise going to the dentist due to a horrible oral surgery gone wrong lol. It took a lot of time for me to feel even remotely comfortable going to routine cleanings and I am proud to say that they are a lot easier than they once were. Part of it definitely has to do with where I go for my cleanings: Aspen Dental.

I know, I know – Aspen Dental isn’t the most well reviewed dentistry practice in the world. In fact, I know several people who vowed to never step foot in one again lol. However, it is affordable and I love my oral hygienist who has been taking care of me since I started going a handful of years ago. She is well aware of my dentist phobia and does her best to accommodate anything that I need to make me more comfortable. This includes explaining everything she’s doing as she does it as well as providing ample time for me to take breaks. It might not seem like much but it has transformed my appointments into a more positive experience and encourages me to keep trying to do better with my oral health.

I had an appointment at Aspen Dental this past week and as I was waiting for the dentist to check in on me after my cleaning, I couldn’t help but snap this picture of my X-Rays. It always makes me laugh to see my piercings show up:

^^^ Lol so cool!

As I waited, I also pondered all of the ways that Aspen Dental has helped me. Regardless of if the practice as a whole might not be well received, the people who work at mine are phenomenal and their expertise is crystal clear. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is Don’t Knock It! I began going to Aspen Dental because they were able to get me in immediately for a chipped tooth. That experience alone told me everything I needed to know because I was upset and in pain and they took excellent care of me. I scheduled an appointment for a cleaning that very day, kept every single appointment since, and have no regrets. I feel fully confident in their team and I hope this instills confidence in you should you ever need to get dental help ASAP!

My appointment went great this week and I feel so good about the strides I have made in tackling my phobia and improving my oral health. I can’t believe I’m saying it but… I’m actually looking forward to my next cleaning!

What are you scared of? What helped you get over your fears? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May6

Boo To You!!

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Boo To You!!

Howdy!! Once upon a time, I received a Stanley mug as a gift and it was glorious. It was a beautiful shade of sea foam green and no one could tell me NOTHING while I toted my gigantic mug of ice water around. Then, my niece came over for a slumber party a few weeks later. I didn’t have any sipper cups for her drinks or straws so I improvised and offered her my Stanley mug. She delighted over the fact that she could drink her chocolate milk “like a big person” and it was just the cutest! I put my mug in the sink for Johnny to wash and then he… didn’t lol. For some reason, he bypassed the mug and by the time he opened it up to wash, it was filled with mold and he proceeded to throw it out so no more Stanley for me. SMH.

Since then, I wasn’t bringing any type of tumbler mug with me as I went about my day and opted for bottled water instead. Then, my niece came over for a slumber party recently and the same song and dance of no straws or sipper cups played. I browsed my options in the cabinets and stumbled upon this mug that I had all but forgotten and we were in business!

I purchased this mug from our local discount store, Marc’s, during the Halloween season. It was a steal for three dollars and I considered it my replacement Stanley – until I brought it home, couldn’t open it, and chalked it up as a three buck loss. Oddly enough, the top opened up so easily when I used it for my niece and I have been using it ever since! Not only do the spooky ghosts make me smile but I cannot recall the last time I have drank so much water regularly. It’s so nice to have the mug with me so I can sip away whenever I need to wet my whistle and I couldn’t even tell you the amount of times I refill it per day. It’s a lot!

Drinking more water in and of itself is a positive and I have definitely noticed the benefits as I increased my normal intake. I feel like I fall asleep so much easier at night and that has decreased my morning dose of caffeine significantly, which is something I have wanted to change. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my coffee and Diet Coke but I am no longer slamming them back to back lol. From a beauty standpoint, my skin looks fresher and clearer and it’s like getting a free skin care treatment every time I fill my mug back up. Why didn’t I start doing this sooner?! I guess I just needed the right mug. 😀

This is your friendly Lil Red Reminder to stay hydrated. Get yourself a fun mug and you will be amazed at how quickly drinking more water becomes part of your daily routine!

What is your favorite mug to use? How much water do you drink per day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar28

The Best Dress OOTD Bloopers

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The Best Dress OOTD Bloopers

Hello everyone and welcome to the Blooper Reel from my Best Dress OOTD! In case you haven’t noticed, I have had a lot of fun creating content as of late and it is a very nice place to be. One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to shoot at least one OOTD per week. I was doing excellent for months, until I wasn’t. Honestly, I was really depressed for the past several weeks and it made it hard to do much of anything once the weekend rolled around. I am feeling much better now (I promise, I’ll explain eventually!) and it has been a gift to step back into the content game bright eyed and bushy tailed. Even when the content isn’t all that great:

Always Tripping: A Memoir by Me

Dear Diary, Mood: Apathetic (Please someone tell me they got that reference!)

No, I did not just eat a lemon before taking this picture

Also no, I have no idea what I was looking at that excited me so much

I’ve never seen Titanic but I think I’m doing a pretty good job of recreating the one boat scene lol

STILL Tripping: A Memoir by Me

You know, I don’t think I realized how depressed I was in the situation I was in. Now that I am out of it, I can scroll through my mental Rolodex of going through the motions every day for months on end, constantly feeling sad or irritated, and letting literally everything I enjoy doing fall by the wayside. IE: Cooking, content creating, outings with Johnny and friends. After doing that for so long, I kid you not, it felt incredibly weird to start feeling good again and seemingly instantly once I said enough.

As soon as I took control back, it was like a ten billion pound weight was lifted off my shoulders and I almost felt “naughty” for inviting happiness back. You know what I have to say? *Pardon my French* but F that. I did what was best for me and deserve to revel in it and that meant having FUN. And, fun for me is getting dressed up and shooting content. So, that is what I did and have been doing and it has been amazing! Creating posts just for me and my little corner of the internet fills me with so much pride and I feel like my old self has returned. In fact, I feel the most inspired now than I have been for months and it is exciting to have all of these ideas zooming around my head again. I can’t wait to make all of them happen!

Lil Red is getting her groove back and you can too! Tend to your mental health and be good to yourself because when you are back – you’re back, baby!

What do you like to do for fun? What is your favorite kind of content to create? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar18

Are You Ready For A Big Change?

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Are You Ready For A Big Change?

Hello!! Whether it is a change that is expected or not, change can be really hard. However, change is necessary and, more often than not, the risk is worth the reward. I have some big changes coming up in the next few months and despite feeling a little stressed, I am mainly excited! After spending a lot of time mulling over my decision, I was able to reach a conclusion that was best for me. Here are the approaches that I took that I found to be the most helpful and maybe they will help you too for your next big adventure:

Time Travel:

Are you currently feeling unhappy with where you’re at? Then, I invite you to time travel! Go back and think about the last point in your life when you were feeling fully content. What was your situation back then? What changed between then and now? Can you make the changes to get those feel good feelings back? When you can pinpoint that moment in time, you can really start to evaluate what was working for and against you. Even if you can’t make a huge change immediately to get your life on a more positive trajectory, you will have a place to start when the time comes.

Plan A, B, & C:

Of course, making major life changes requires a lot of planning. In my situation, I made my perfect world plan as well as several backup options that I would be happy with too. When you have a Plan A, a backup plan, and a backup to your backup plan, you are well set to implement them anyway you see fit. It could be a combination of the three or you might find that one plan has everything and you are going for it. Putting all of your eggs in one basket definitely means betting on yourself but, remember, sometimes compromises will need to be made to get you to where you want to be!

When You Know, You Know:

Does simply the thought of making a change make you happy? Or maybe you have a gut feeling that a shift in your life needs to be made? Don’t ignore that! No one but you can tell you what’s right for you so listen to yourself. What’s best for you might not be the decision a partner or loved one would make and that’s okay because it’s your life. Only you can direct where it’s going to take you so if you are experiencing that desire for change, work with it.

Challenge Your Thoughts:

A big life change can sometimes feel like a grieving process. You are switching up the norm and that can be difficult to wrap your head around. However, implementing a necessary change is going to be a lot harder if you are constantly going back and forth about it in your head. Be firm and confident in the decision you arrived at and challenge those wishy washy thoughts. This is why it is so important to plan, plan, plan because solid next steps can allow you to go forth knowing without a doubt that you made the right choice.

If you feel ready for a big change – go for it full steam ahead. You never know where it will take you but the chances are high that you’re going to feel a lot better!

Have you had a big change in your life recently? What helped you during that process? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar15

What’s Cookin?!

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What’s Cookin?!

Hello!! One of my favorite things in the world is to cook dinner. I love being able to spend time doing my thing in the kitchen and creating something delicious for Johnny and myself after work. And, because I will never master the fine art of cooking for two, I always have plenty to share with my parents and beloved downstairs neighbor, Tony. Despite loving to cook and fixing a plate for my loved ones, I find that it is the first thing that falls by the wayside when I am having a mental health moment (Or week or month but who’s counting lol).

The lack of desire to cook and sheer exhaustion physically and mentally was definitely the case for me recently. However, I am pleased to report that your girl is back! I am feeling much better and it felt so good to be able to make some of mine and Johnny’s favorite dishes. I whipped up a big pot of Fettuccine Alfredo and chicken breast for him. I also made my world famous spruced up baked potatoes and jalapeno popper quesadillas! And, of course, Johnny ran a plate down to Tony and I fixed a plate for my parents too.

The combined act of not only preparing the food but sharing it is so satisfying to me and I take pride in being the neighbor and daughter that surprises someone with a home cooked meal. I expect nothing in return for this because it’s truly my pleasure. It’s always nice to be complimented, though, and this text exchange with my mom made my day:

I guess the moral of the story is a few things. First and foremost, if you are noticing that some of your favorite hobbies or passions are becoming difficult to do – it’s okay!! However, it’s going to be glorious when you get that desire back and this post is a testament to that. Don’t beat yourself up over taking a break because you’re just going to feel worse. Rather, get back in your flow little by little and when you are back – You’re back, baby!

Second, if you have something to share – share away! Whether it’s posting your artwork on social media, fixing an extra plate for a loved one, or mowing your neighbor’s lawn, doing good feels good. Your gifts, skills, passions, and hobbies are all valuable and I’m not talking money. These are all things that someone, somewhere is going to appreciate and that makes what you are doing even more special. For example, I love knowing that my neighbor or parents aren’t going to have to cook dinner for themselves when I share the bounty. This is not only an act of kindness for them but myself too so share liberally because it’s going to do your world a world of good. ❤

I am back to being genuinely excited about cooking and it’s an amazing place to be. I hope all of you are finding full passion in the things that make you happy too!

What is your favorite hobby? How do you share it with others? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar14

Spring Flower Surprise

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Spring Flower Surprise

Hello! The weather in Ohio these past few weeks has been crazy. It went from single digit temperatures and snow to a full fledged heat wave this entire week. Since Sunday, we have been experiencing blessedly warm temperatures in the high fifties and low sixties. It might even get up to seventy degrees this weekend! I have been loving it and it feels so weird to not be bundling up in a million layers every time I step foot outside. The sunshine alone has put a huge pep back in my step because my seasonal depression has kicked rocks and left me with plain old depression lol. But, hey, that’s manageable! 😀

Because the weather did a complete one eighty, spring flowers weren’t anywhere on my mind because it just seemed too early. However, I had an amazing surprise when I worked at chez mom and dad on Tuesday. My dad let me know that a patch of pretty yellow flowers had bloomed! Check it out:

When I visited the backyard before heading home, I was expecting to see a couple of flowers bravely peeking out of the ground. I was so shocked to see a huge patch of yellow flowers, instead! It took my breath away to see the petals dancing in the wind and was just what I needed after having a lot of recent stress. It felt so good to see these beautiful blooms, gulp down the fresh air, and have a big smile on my face. I think I could have stood out there all day. I always look forward to the first flowers of spring and these ones were there when I needed it most – I am so appreciative for that. ❤

I hope these flowers brightened your day as much as it did mine. Here’s to warm weather and all the spring flowers!

What is your favorite flower? What do you look forward to in the spring? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah