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Meagan Rigney

3 things to think about this week!

April 5, 2021      Leave a Comment

Hey friends! I hope your weekend has been a good one!

We had a week of blue skies and 60+ degrees days, so it felt good to open the windows and let some fresh air in. The beginning of Spring feels so hopeful to me…the birds are chirping and I have seen the first buds on the trees, plus it is lighter outside for longer. I really love the extra daylight right now in the evenings. I am looking forward to the upcoming warmer months and (hopefully) a bit more normalcy for all of us. 

On another note, after trying on a pair of shorts from last summer that are a bit tight, I decided to order a different pair in a size up. (I actually ordered them from here as they were sold out in my size everywhere else!) I’ll speak more about that below, but this is your message to buy the clothes that fit you now. Be comfortable! Nothing is forever, not sizes or weight or anything, and buying a size or two up isn’t a lifelong commitment. Just buy what feels good. I know my mindset is a lot better when I am wearing something that fits me well versus being too tight. 

If you are looking for not too short, shorts…these look promising! I might order a pair to try them out. And these $22 jeans from Target feel light and airy and almost like sweatpants. I have my true size in the lighter wash and love them. You can see me wearing them HERE. 

——> I wanted to chat today about being more comfortable in your skin and how to gently guide yourself back when body anxiety and judgement pops up. These are the steps I do when I need it (which is often!) and I hope it helps you, too. I wrote a bit on Instagram about it but felt I could add more in here for you.

3 things to think about this week when body anxiety rears its ugly head

1) Know your triggers. What sends you in a spiral? For me it’s a few things: trying on clothes that no longer fit me, judging myself in a full length mirror, weighing myself, looking at old pictures where I think I “look better,”and basically every evening after I eat dinner and feel full. Once you know what triggers you you can then work on strategies to combat them. Just being aware of your triggers is your first step to healing them, I promise. You’ll be able to see a pattern and avoid what makes you feel bad, or come up with strategies to alleviate the anxieties when they happen. I know for me, knowing that these things aren’t good for me helps me either avoid them (like not trying on too small things when I am feeling low and not having a scale in my home..) or realizing that I always feel “off” after dinner when I am full from dinner. How can you be more aware of what makes you feel bad? What social media accounts can you unfollow or mute, what clothes can you let go of that aren’t serving you, can you let go of your scale? 

2) Come up with a way to respond to these triggers ahead of time. I take clothes that don’t fit and either donate them right away, or put them in a box to try again at a later time. I don’t suggest holding onto things that are never going to fit again. And honestly? You will probably buy something new to wear if you need another size. I find that saving smaller clothes gives me an opening to go and keep trying them on when they might never fit again (and that’s okay.) As I mentioned above, buy clothes that fit you right now, where you are. In this past year I have gone up a size or two (depending on the brand) and wearing clothes that fit me makes me feel better in my skin. Clothes are meant to fit you, not the other way around!) I have 3 different sizes from even the same brand that fit me the same. Sizing is not standard and life is too short to feel like a certain size is “better,” or to try and fit back into a size from a decade ago. Bodies are meant to grow and change, a million times over. It’s okay to buy another size and feel good in your clothes. 

I also know that I have always compared myself to an earlier version of myself, and found the ‘new me’ lacking. (This triggers me a lot as I have YEARS of photos from my blog.) Yet it keeps moving! I never enjoy where I am right now, even when I know in a year I might think ‘this me’ is more desirable. I now notice the thought and remind myself, ‘you weren’t happier then either.’ (which is true.) At each stage I was never content with how I looked, not matter what my physical form was. Remembering this helps me a lot. I really like my mindset now and growing self worth more than when I was when I weighed less. 

My last trigger, I notice after dinner is when my body anxiety pops up, and when it does and I want to make plans to “fix it.” (This is where years of disordered eating and exercise came in!) And anxiety. I spent years disciplining myself to look a certain way and was never happy, so at night my brain wants me to go back there because it feels “safe.” That’s when talk myself down. Which leads me to… 

3) I like to use phrases or affirmations when my brain tries to tell me something I know is not true. At night when my anxiety creeps in and I often want to make extreme plans (diet/exercise) that don’t honor, me I like to repeat, “Nothing is forever.” This feeling isn’t forever, who I am right now isn’t forever, and I always feel better the next day. This is just old, subconscious programming that makes me feel “safe” and “in control.” When in fact, it makes me really anxious and stressed and overwhelmed. Realizing that you are the voice listening to this programming is important. This isn’t you that feels this way, it’s your scared inner self just looking for a way to feel comfortable. And for me, controlling my eating and exercise makes that scared inner self feel better. But I KNOW, that isn’t me. These feelings are not forever and if I just sit with it and repeat my mantras the feelings DO pass. They always do. I have confidence that if I just hear the thoughts, acknowledge them, and let them go I will feel better soon. I am confident in this because I prove it nightly by listening, repeating my affirmations, and knowing that what I am doing now is better for me. I am learning to honor myself and treat myself like I would treat my daughter, I am worthy of love and affirmations and food to nourish my should. 

Other affirmations I like to use…

“I have a body. I love my body. I love my shape. My body is a vessel for my soul. I am enough.” 

Just gentle reminders to shhhh my inner critic, who is honestly just the scared version of the real me who needs love. It’s important to notice the thoughts, and let them go. Nothing is forever! Not the body you are in, your feelings, your anxiety, it all passes. What we are trying to do is be aware of all feelings, good, bad and indifferent. The key is to not react to the “bad” ones (and by react I mean numbing them with avoidance and extreme things.) Know what triggers you, figure out how to deal with it ahead of time, and talk kindly to yourself. Again, nothing is forever;) 

I hope this helps! This is a subject near and dear to my heart that I could talk about forever, honestly. I have struggled with this for as long as I can remember, and over the past few years I have worked really hard to move through it. There is no magic end of the road with this stuff, we don’t just wake up one day and feel amazing about ourselves from that day forward, but you will start to see that YOU have the power to feel better one trigger at a time. 

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Hi, friend! My name is Meagan and I like to overshare on Insta-stories, LOVE finding the best stuff for everyday life, and I truly believe that life is more fun when you feel good about yourself, both inside and out.

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meaganrigney

I’ve been coaching our high school powerlifting I’ve been coaching our high school powerlifting team (along with a few other awesome people,) and we had our first meet of the season this weekend. Working with these kids has been so freakin’ fun-they work hard and they make me laugh every 5 seconds. I feel lucky I get to mentor them both in and out of school each day.
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Most of my stuff comes from Old Navy at this point, they are honestly killing it! I am a size 8/medium in most things. You can shop my outfits here…

https://shopltk.com/explore/meaganrigney/collections/11ed52d1acbbb795b3720242ac110004
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Grateful for…my husband (he makes me laugh everyday and is my best friend), my kids (the funniest, kindest, most awesome kids on earth), my family (who always make me feel loved), my friends (can’t live life without you,) my co-workers (I’m obsessed with you all, how else do I teach without you lol), and just feeling settled after 20 years of moving. 

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I’ve been loving this oval Amazon ring since it I’ve been loving this oval Amazon ring since it came in the mail last month. If you know me, you know I like to switch up my rings often. I have a lot that I like to play around with. Life is too short to not have fun with jewelry 😊
Also, an ombré mani that I can’t stop staring at. I feel like in the winter I like nail art and in the summer I like simple neutrals. 

Follow my shop @meaganrigney on the @shop.LTK app to shop 🌈

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This weekend…. Picked up our oldest after 11 da This weekend….

Picked up our oldest after 11 days away at summer camp (with no phones/no contact!) and it was amazing. Love this kid!
Travelled 3 hours across state for a lacrosse tournament that even included an afternoon at the beach 🙌🏻
On Sunday drove 1.45 hours to pick up Molly from camp, then drove 1.45 hours back to watch the boys play in the championship game (lost by 1, boo…), then drove 3.15 hours back home. 
But! My babies are back home and all is well. 
Our hotel had Direct tv so I was reunited with my beloved Hallmark and watched a few Xmas in July movies 🙏🏻

Anyone know how to steam Hallmark? I need it back in my life 😞
A little over two years ago my family started watc A little over two years ago my family started watching wrestling together. It kinda became our thing, following the story lines and becoming invested in each character. My husband grew up watching it, and he wanted to share that with the kids. Then, slowly but surely, I got a little bit invested myself. 🙃What I love the most is that we all watch this together, and anything that we can all enjoy as a family is what makes me happy. 
Anyway... @allelitewrestling came to Detroit and we knew we had to get tickets. We went the other night and it was awesome! The lights, the music, how invested the crowd was, I kept looking over and seeing huge smiles on all of our faces. This was what we did during the pandemic, in the uncertainty of quarantine and the world, we watched a lot of movies and we watched wrestling. Getting to see it live sort of felt like a full circle moment. We had survived, moved across the country, and settled into this new life of ours that we love. If you had asked me 3 years ago if I would have enjoyed a wrestling match I would have rolled my eyes, but sitting there the other night in an arena full of magic and energy, it was just magic. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
*Also, is this what one wears to wrestling? Bodysuits? Wedges? lol 😆
When the looser jeans of our youth (long live the When the looser jeans of our youth (long live the 90's!) came back, I resisted. You weren't going to pry my Madewell black skinnies off of my body! Those of us who have lived it already know how bad low rise was (2" rise, baby), or how our pants used to be shredded and dirty b/c they dragged on the ground, or how the fit of everything was just off. 
 But then I got sucked into buying a pair of "dad jeans" (which is funny because I use to borrow my step-dad's jeans in high school), and after I got used to styling them I like the look! First of all, my legs can breath lol. The key is to show of your waist in some way and just not take yourself so seriously. The older I get, the less I care about wearing what other people think looks good and wearing what *I* want. Are my skinny jeans more flattering? Yes. DO I feel more comfortable in these? Also, yes. Life is too short to wear anything other than what YOU want, end of story. Wear the skinny jeans, or the baggier ones, buy the cropped tank or the oversized flannel. Forget about what is "right or cool" or what you think you *should* wear and just wear what makes you happy.
My mom sent me a package filled with old pics and My mom sent me a package filled with old pics and report cards that are hilarious and embarrassing! 

My faves....skiing in jeans in the 90's?!
The leaning my chin casually on my hand school pic. 

The fact that I have maybe 10 pictures of myself in high school but took probably 20 selfies of myself yesterday.

Report card comments..."A great worker, sometimes I need to interrupt her independent reading to call attention to the next class discussion." 😆
"Meagan needs to "buckle down" a little more on her studies and a little less on her artwork." 🤩
Turns out, my independent reading has turned me into a Language Arts teacher, and my art has turned into an Etsy shop. 

(There’s still no reason for skiing in jeans.) 🙃
A few self care things I do on the regular... *eve A few self care things I do on the regular...
*every two weeks I get my nails done. I get gel on my real nails and often get designs or fun colors, and seriously have a Pinterest board and a special album saved on my phone with ideas. It just makes me happy to have pretty nails. 
*I schedule in workouts. I don't do well with "winging it," I have to be really intentional with my time. I work out after work on Tues + Thurs and also on Sunday, and will sometimes add an extra day. I feel my personal best when I am active.
*A couple of months ago I finally started the habit of flossing my teeth. I just started at night and for some reason it has stuck and I am on a streak and I feel like a real grown up. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks at 41:)
*Every Sunday I cook a lunch for myself to bring to work, and I pack it into 5 pieces of Tupperware. I find a simple dish and will eat it all week. That way when I get up I just throw it in my lunchbox and I have a healthy option to eat. 
*I research affirmations and have them written in a word document. Typically during my lunch break I will open up and read the document, and then I have a running list of things I am grateful for that I type out. I also have a couple fave self help books at my desk and I read a chapter or two. 
*Every Sunday after my workout I apply a face mask and let it sit, then shower and apply a hair mask and exfoliate. Then after my shower I put my self tan on. Love starting the week feeling refreshed and with a little color on my skin. 
* I have days I do certain things that make my life easier. Saturday I meal plan and order my groceries. Sunday is for picking up groceries, meal prep, and laundry. Tuesday and Thursday I work out when I get home and wash my hair. Linking certain days to activities takes the thinking/anxiety out of running my life.
*Reading daily, lots of sleep, lots of water, painting, writing, etc.
Celebrated a friend for her bday with a fancy dinn Celebrated a friend for her bday with a fancy dinner out! It’s been awhile since I got to dress up and wear fancy necklaces and drink Prosecco and I really, really enjoyed it. 😊
Part 2: In my last post I talked about learning to Part 2: In my last post I talked about learning to appreciate what is, versus thinking the next big goal will bring happiness, particularly with weightloss. Spoiler alert: being skinnier won't bring you contentment, I promise. 
Here's the deal, there is no 'finish point' when it comes to our physical self. If you are lucky, you will change in a million ways as you grow old and live a long life! Bodies are meant to evolve in many ways, and it is pretty amazing what they can do. 
The big question I want to ask you is, "How do you want to FEEL on a daily basis?" I know I want to feel healthy and strong and I want to be able to do active things with ease. That fires me up. So then, how do we get there? I believe habits are the key to change rather than grand resolutions. Adding small changes into our day that are easy to achieve. This year I am building in habits that will help me FEEL better in my physical body, and they aren't based on weight or pants size. 
The key? Keep these habits SMALL. Like, stupid small. One habit I made was to go to CrossFit 1x/ week during the school year. I could have set a bigger goal, but I wanted to build my confidence that I could do this one thing. And I have! I am adding more to that since I know I can, but that benchmark is still there when things are hard. Another habit is to eat more veggies, so I buy a ton and cut them up on Sunday to have. I like to ask, 'What can I ADD to my life" versus taking away? More water, more veggies, more mindful movement. I'm also adding in more fiber (Hello Metamucil #thisis40) and flossing at night. 
I'm not looking for a dramatic physical transformation, I am looking to FEEL better on a daily basis with small, achievable habits. When it comes to adding these in ask yourself, "Can I do this for the rest of my life and be happy?" If the answer is no then it probably isn't for you, or it's a quick fix.
Part 1: I'm not a resolution person, as in, the ty Part 1: I'm not a resolution person, as in, the type of person that promises to make huge changes on January 1st in the blind hope that this year will be different. (I used to be!) I think for a lot of us, we assume that achieving something big (weight loss, more money, a new job, marriage, kids, etc) will bring happiness. And honestly, it probably will for awhile. However, I have learned something in the past couple of years that has really helped me put perspective on the whole, "I'll be happy when..." thing.
Here's the secret:
If you can't be happy where you are RIGHT NOW (even if it isn't your ideal,) you won't be happy when you achieve your big goal.
You might enjoy checking the box that you did it, but then your brain will switch to 'keeping up' or it will look for the next thing to get to. This will go on forever (or 41 years in my case lol.) One day you will wake up and see all the time you were wishing for something else, life was happening right in front of you. 
I think about this the most with body image. I look back on ten years of photos from my blog and social and life, where I was at my fittest, and I was never satisfied. I always saw myself and thought I had 'let myself go," or I looked better the year before. AND YET, since I have been working on shedding diet culture ideals and disordered eating and have gained the weight that I always dreaded, I can see how messed up that thinking was. I was NEVER HAPPY with how my body looked, even at its thinnest. I always found fault. So then, what if I taught myself to love what is, instead of always trying to shrink myself smaller? What if you were to look like you do right now, forever...can you learn to be grateful for your body, from a standpoint of what it allows you do (like breathe and LIVE?!) Can you dress the body you have and appreciate what is? Can you stand in front of a mirror and just say THANK YOU and know that what you weigh is the least interesting thing about you?
My first baby turns 14 today. The night she was bo My first baby turns 14 today. The night she was born (3 weeks early!) I had driven myself to the hospital because I thought there was no way that I was actually in labor, and at one point called my husband at work and told him not to come home early from work (he ignored that, luckily.) Molly Amelia was born and I remember holding her in my arms and staring into her face and wondering who would she become? This tiny, 5 pound baby, with the head full of dark hair and squished little nose. I can still smell her newborn smell and feel how tiny her hand was in mine.
She taught me how to be a mom, and she taught me how to be myself. There is no greater mirror for reflection than through your children's eyes. They will humble you to the core and drop your to your knees. From day one this child has brought a light into my life and my days, she was the piece of a puzzle to myself I didn't know I was missing. Watching her grow has been the biggest gift of my life, and I will never take it for granted. 
I wish I could describe the magic of my daughter. How she lights up a room and how she can tell a story that holds the attention of everyone in a room. She is dynamic and sarcastic and funny and empathetic. She is 1 million percent smarter than I was at her age, I love watching her navigate the world and can't wait to see who she will become.
It is beautiful and heartbreaking to be a mom, because I know that with each year she grows I will have to eventually let her go. I can't keep her forever, safe at home with us. I want to bottle up each year and say, "This! This is my favorite!" I want to freeze time and hold her tight, as my baby, forever. But I can't. We never can. Instead I will fill her up with love and grow her self worth and give her the knowledge that she is magic and to never, ever, ever forget how special she is and how she is a gift. She is the most beautiful gift I have ever received. She is my heart, forever,
I just finished the first season of ..."And Just L I just finished the first season of ..."And Just Like That," and I have some thoughts!
I've heard so much negativity around the return of this show and I get it. If you watched the original season and was as invested as I was, it can be hard to feel like you want things to stay the same when they just can't. Let me get this out of the way, though. I loved this new season. I knew from episode one that there was going to be a journey, and I had to be patient. As much as we all like a happy ending, I think we all needed to see something deeper. 
You know what I loved? I loved seeing vibrant, amazing women in their 50's being shown as they are. Women age, things change and often the world is not ready to see that. While I'm still in my early 40's, I can see and feel how these changes become more and more apparent, and it's OKAY. It's okay to age and not always look like you are in your 20's anymore. If life continues as it has for me, each year I get more confident, I feel more amazing in my skin, and I become more and more who I authentically am. I want to see more women that are older and vibrant and real in the media. I think the show showed us that.
I also loved the portrayal of motherhood from a  teen-age perspective. So much is covered about early motherhood, the baby + toddler + elementary age. You rarely see people parenting teenagers in a real way. I have seen the issues Charlotte portrayed parenting her children in both myself and my friends children. I want to see more of life and motherhood from this perspective in the media, and not the cliched stuff. There are so many weird horror stories of parenting teens in this day and age (that I don't really agree with), and I appreciate seeing more angles and stories that I can relate to.
I liked that no one has their stuff figured out, too. Just because you age doesn't mean you know what you are doing, or can't change. Life is dynamic and wonderful. I think the show showed that.
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