Ladies I Love: Body Positivity & Lifting Others Up with Savanna Jimenez
Hi loves!! Welcome to part four of Ladies I Love series! Today on the blog we have Savanna Jimenez of the Instagram account @savjimenez and popular blog. Today we cover body positivity, lifting others up, intuitive eating and grief – we touch on it all!
Savanna and I met on Instagram and she has been such a light in my social media life, so when I was thinking about who I wanted to include in this series, she came to mind right away. Savanna has this radiating positivity and vulnerability on Instagram that is so gracious and she’s able to help so many women get to this place as well by opening up and sharing her story. She preaches body positivity and self love always – which I can’t get enough of!
You will get a glimpse of that story via our interview below – check it out loves!! xx
On Spreading Light!
Q: Hi Sav!!! One of the most kind souls on the gram. It’s crazy how connected I feel to you & we’ve never actually met (yet!) One of the reasons is your unconditional positive energy, warmth and overall goodness. Have you always been such a positive person and influence on those around you or have you been on a journey to get to this place?
A: You are so sweet! I am so glad Instagram brought us together 🙂
I’ve actually always been a pretty positive & happy person, but it definitely doesn’t come easily everyday. I have to check myself if I get frustrated over something and put situations in perspective. Most of the time the worries/frustrations seem so small when you think about it, but it just takes a little self checking to get there!
On Body Positivity & Food Freedom
Q: Something that you opened up about recently was your conscious decision to GAIN weight. I know that your weight has been a journey for you and you’ve battled with body dysmorphia as well as an eating disorder. What would you say has been the most influential things that have attributed to you getting to this healthy mindset surrounding your body and becoming body positive?
A: 100% who I was surrounding myself with and the content I was consuming. My sister is one of my biggest influences and she was one of the people who helped me most.
She has shown me that life is such an adventure, and food is meant to be enjoyed and fun.
I was also careful ( and still am) about who I committed to hanging out with and made sure they were a positive influence. And last I looked at who I was following on Instagram/Youtube and stopped consuming content from people or public figures who made me feel like I wasn’t skinny enough or that looks were everything.
Q: Speaking of a healthy mindset around your body and eating habits, what would be some things that you would encourage women to look out for to reveal if they may have an unhealthy relationship with food or their bodies?
A: Absolutely. If food is consuming most of your thoughts, then you probably aren’t eating enough or you are depriving yourself to some extent.
It sounds simple but you should be full & satisfied after eating! I realized a lot of times I was still hungry after I ate once I started eating more.
Also notice if you have to be the healthiest person in the room or restaurant, or if going to an event makes you uncomfortable because you can’t control the food or if your personality has changed because you are always hungry or deprived. I really wasn’t myself during my eating disorder because I was so depleted of energy- food is fuel and makes us happy!!
Q: As we touched on before, you’ve been on quite the journey to get to the place you are now in your relationship with food. You’re able to eat intuitively, and not automatically say no to bread. You’re able to enjoy and eat very intuitively. How did you first start eating intuitively & what helped you get to this place?
A: Once I started eating enough and the constant food thoughts left my head I really started to feel like myself again. Once you’re in the right headspace, having a piece of bread really doesn’t seem like a big deal because it makes you happy!
If I eat a ton of pasta one day I’ll probably want to eat a big salad for lunch the next day, but I’m not beating myself up for enjoying food. I know how to eat healthy (as most of us do) so I just move on and don’t dwell on it!
On Lifting Yourself & Others Up
Q: You’ve been one of the kindest people to me during the difficult time that I’ve been going to as it relates to my grief and losing my aunt. I know you recently lost a best friend, which is unimaginable. But, something I admire about you is your strength to let your guard down to realize you are not alone in your suffering. What are some tips that you could give to help women get to this place? Any words of wisdom or encouragement?
A: I think when something tragic happens in your life, you find humanity in people. You get outside your own worries and realize there’s so much more to life than you thought.
I think letting yourself feel is the most important thing and also talking about it. It could be a family member of the person who passed, your significant other or a therapist. But releasing what you are feeling is so so important for your mental health and physical body.
Also know that so many people know what grief is and that you aren’t alone. It’s NEVER anything you should be ashamed to bring up..there are so many people here for you.
Q: And finally, in the honor of the month of love & lifting ourselves, and other women up, what do you love about yourself?
A: I love my nurturing side. I love to take care of people and do special, thoughtful things for them 🙂 Making people feel warm and happy literally makes me beam!!
What a note to end on – thank you Savanna and the exact things that you love about yourself are exactly the things that I love too. You spread so much warmth and happiness and I’m so happy you were able to share with us!! Hope you all enjoyed! xx
xoxo
Alysia (Purely) Pope
