A couple of weeks ago we were fortunate enough to have a chat with Imogen of @imogenroseig and this is what we talked about!
Selfish Darling: Hi Imogen, we’re so excited to have a little chat with you! Could you tell us a bit about how you started out and why you got into Instagram and Youtube?
Imogen Rose: yes, so I started writing a blog, it was probably about 6 years ago now and first of all I just started writing about fashion and lifestyle and I just wanted kind of like a creative outlet that I could just express myself on and then I started kind of going down the route of sharing my journey because I’ve got endometriosis which is obviously a big part of my life so I wanted to share it on my youtube channel and on my Instagram to kind of help others who are going through the same kind of thing. Obviously from my Instagram I’m very, you probably know, into fitness and that kind of thing so endometriosis has affected my fitness so I kind of wanted to share my journey and to help & inspire others that they can still be fit and still grow their confidence through fitness and exercise and leading a healthy life despite having endometriosis. I just wanted to share my positive message really.
SD: That’s amazing, when were you diagnosed? Have you had it all your life, what’s been the main impact that endometriosis has had on your life?
IR: I started suffering from symptoms when I was a teenager, probably round about when I was 15-16 and I went back and forth to doctors for a number of years and kind of got turned away a lot and felt like I didn’t really got listened to which now I’ve spoken to a lot of girls with the same thing that keeps popping up that people feel like they’re not being listed to by professionals and that’s why often it takes so long to get diagnosed with endometriosis. I got diagnosed in august 2017 so it wasn’t that long ago that I got diagnosed and ever since then I’ve kind of just been trying to share my story to help other girls that might have experience the same symptoms and kind of just want someone to relate to.
SD: how has it affected your life?
IR: It’s had a massive impact on my life, I’ve lost jobs in the past over it. Because it’s just kind of got too much and ended up having so much time off work and not been able to keep up with jobs in the past. I’m actually waiting on another operation, I’m on the waiting list at the moment. I’ve had two operations in the past, the first one was, the doctor didn’t really know what was wrong with me and so basically did a diagnostic laparoscopy and that was in 2013 and they said I didn’t actually have endometriosis and then there was another load of back and forth to the doctors until 2017 where I actually got officially diagnosed. Since then I’ve just been trying to find different way to managing my condition like through eating, exercise, I’ve kind of gone down loads of different routes to try help my condition.
SD: Is that why you’re vegan?
IR: Not really, being vegan started off more for the environment but now I see the healthy eating impact as well.
SD: You’ve then gone on to share your weight loss journey on Instagram and how has that changed your life?
IR: I’ve kind of struggled over the years with my weight and I found that sharing my journey on Instagram kind of holds me accountable and exercise and fitness actually helps my mental health which is a massive drag for me, obviously its physical as well but it’s definitely the mental side it’s a massive thing for me so yes I just started sharing my weight loss journey online to inspire others.
SD: …and to help keep yourself in check as well, that’s great! Have you ever felt that social media has impacted you in a negative way? Or has it always been positive for you?
IR: yeah definitely, I think it’s safe to say that everyone has a love, hate relationship with social media. There’s a lot of positivity and thankfully the body positivity community is massive and there’s a lot of really empowering, inspiring women on there that’s sharing their journey with it. But I think there’s kind of a little bit of a dark side to social media as well. There’s a lot of people sharing things on there and it kind of almost makes you feel like “ oh god, should my life be that perfect?” because so many people only share the highlights on social media which is why I try to be as real as possible on my platform because I know that especially as a young teenage girl you’re very impressionable and so I think for me it’s about making sure I’m sharing the real things and making sure I’m talking about real issues like having cellulites for instance and I think that when you’re looking in magazines or polished Instagram’s that doesn’t really come across so some young girls might think “well I’ve got cellulites so is that not normal?” kind of thing. Does that make sense?
SD: Absolutely and we think it’s great with role models like yourself, often you only see that shiny part of someone’s life so it’s great that you’re actually sharing issues that are real life things. So how do you keep yourself motivated? To keep going as it takes up a lot of your time and you obviously put a lot of work into it?
IR: I mean I do have my down days and have had, in the past I’ve had little breaks from social media because I’m quite aware that sometimes it does get a little bit too much and its quite easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself to keep on going and to keep on almost like grinding, there’s that whole industry out there that pushes like “ you need to keep on grinding, you need to keep on the hamster wheel kind of thing “ so I think it’s just about checking in with yourself and making sure that you take some time out for yourself to keep motivated. And I do find that a lot of accounts on Instagram like self-love accounts and other motivational girls who inspire me as well to keep motivated to keep on sharing my story and a lot of girls who message me as well who might be going through the same or similar thing as me and I’ve had a couple of messages about my youtube channel and saying how thankful they are cause its helped them in some way and that’s a massive motivator for me because when I get those messages its really makes me realise why I’m doing this.
SD: Of course, knowing you’re making a difference much be so motivating! So if you were to give us your top tip on how to stay or get motivated around something what would it be?
IR: I would say definitely write down your goals. And not just long term goals but short terms goals, that’s a massive thing that keeps me going. Maybe write down the long term goal of 12 months and then put in a short term goal that will help you get there. And put it somewhere where you can see it like your kitchen or your bedroom where you’re going to wake up and see it every single day that’s a massive thing that keeps me going.
SD: We’ve also seen that you’re currently doing a sober challenge, that must take some motivation, can you tell us a bit more about that?
IR: Haha, Yes, so I’m currently on a 3 month sober challenge at the moment that I’m doing until the 9thof December, I’ve done it before, this is my third challenge so far, the first time I did a six month and since then I’ve only done smaller ones. Just because I feel like it really helps me focus and it really test myself discipline as well which I’ve really struggled with in the past. When I was teenager and a student I used to just go out and party all the time and not look after myself at all. So a few years ago I just got to a real low point in my life and I thought ”right that’s it, I need to do something about this, I can’t keep going on like this“ so I ended up doing a six month challenge of no alcohol and it was so hard, it was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life and I think it’s also engrained in our society as well, that it’s a bit weird to not drink in a way and I found myself going out in social situations and people tried to make me drink which I think is really really bad as well but yeah so since then I just challenge myself to a 3 month no drinking challenge every now and then because I just feel like it helps me focus.
SD: I think we can all relate to that pressure and in the UK a lot of the socialising is done in pubs and so drinking is naturally a part of it and if you don’t drink you’re boring. On a different note and to round this little interview up, we’re all about self- care and self-love at Selfish Darling so what tip would you give our readers around that or what would you do yourself to make sure you show yourself that love and care?
IR: Recently I’ve been really intrigued by affirmations because in the past I’ve noticed I’ve often spoken quite negatively to myself, not out loud but you know when you’re talking to yourself. And you look in the mirror and you’re picking yourself apart and I think it’s making sure you’re checking in with yourself and quite often checking in with yourself and realising that “oh that’s actually a very negative thing that I’m saying to myself and that’s obviously going to have a very negative impact on my mindset maybe for the rest of my day” so affirmation is definitely something that’s helped me. There’s a lot of free content as well and free affirmation audios and so sometimes if I’m in a really negative place or if I’ve got something coming up that I’m really anxious for I will just sit and listen to some affirmations and that will boost my positive thoughts.
SD: That’s a really great tip! Thank you so much imogen for having a chat with us and letting us take part in your story and journey, you’re super inspiring and we love girls like yourself.
So Darlings, if you haven’t already had a look at Imogen’s Instagram @imogenroseig have a look now and be inspired by this awesome girls work around body positivity, endometriosis and being real.
We will follow up with a post dedicated solely to endometriosis as we feel this is a subject that’s definitely needs to be highlighted and talked about more so future sufferers will be diagnosed quicker and more accurately and not have to go through the same long process as this girl!
xx Selfish Darling