Talk to your body as if it was your best friend

How are you doing on your healthy habits? Is there a week that you are still stuck on? Reach out to me if you're struggling and need help. Don't worry if you aren't ready to move on to this week's habit. Stick with the habit that you really need to keep working on until it becomes a habit. 
 

We've all heard it before "Love your body no matter what"...but what does it really mean and why is it important for living a healthier life?

Remember the importance of Positive Thinking? Well..it works the same for our body image. This goes for both men and women. More women have body shaming issues, but men suffer from it as well. Women are usually unhappy with their weight while men are unhappy with their masculinity. 

So, how does not loving your body effect your health?
 

Usually, we look at ourselves in the mirror and think or even say out loud things we wouldn't say to anyone else. Things like:

“This shirt makes my arms look huge.”

“I can’t wear that dress until I lose more weight.”

“I look ugly without makeup on.”

“These shorts make my cellulite look disgusting.”

While you might think that these thoughts don't have any effect on your life, they can actually effect decisions you make about food, exercise and even effect relationships in your life. 

These thoughts and little negative sayings can actually contribute to more stress on our bodies. Yep, psychological and emotional stress has huge impact on the health of our bodies just as much as stressful situations like having too much on your plate, running late for work, etc... Stress comes in many different forms. Your body doesn't distinguish between these different forms of stress...it's all the same to your body. So when you tell yourself you look fat or you don't like "this or that part of your body" - you're stressing your body out. In the back of your mind you are stressed about how to "fix" this problem of yours. 

This is where hating your body or certain parts of your body can have a negative impact on your health. Sure, we've all got things we want to work on with our bodies...whether we want to lose weight, grow muscle, increase flexibility, or get rid of cellulite, but we need to learn to love our bodies in the NOW and see our bodies for the powerful and strong bodies they are. 

Now, when I say that we should love our bodies the way they are now, doesn't mean you should just give up on your body goals and sit on the couch eating ice cream. Some people, take the "love your body the way it is" to mean that they can't change their bodies so why keep trying? It just means that you need to stop shaming your body and just focus on the healthy things you are doing to change and improve your life. Focus on how many push-ups you can do...not how flabby your arms look.  Focus on how many steps your body carries you daily...not how long it's going to take to lose the weight. 

Here is a beautiful metaphor I found and want to share, because I hope it will resonate with you the way it did for me:
 

"Your body is like a flower.

At what stage is a flower perfect? Ever stopped to think about it?

When it’s a seed, it’s perfect at being a seed. It doesn’t sit under a layer of moist dirt, doubting its abilities to sprout. It doesn’t say, “How the hell am I going to get out of this mess? I’m so small, and the dirt is so heavy.” No, it just does its perfect little thing to become a perfect little sprout. Then it grows taller and stronger and becomes a perfect bud.

From there, that bud turns into a beautiful flower that is, in fact, perfect. Once the flower blooms and spreads its pollen, it’s perfect at becoming more dirt for the next little seed.

Every stage of the flower is perfect... and you are too."

7 Ways to start having a better relationship with your body and stop hating it:

Relax.

Overall, weight only weakly predicts longevity. Studies show that people who are slightly overweight actually live longer than normal weight people. Weight is only one of many health indicators.

Quality of diet, stress levels, fitness levels and many other factors also influence longevity. Stressing about weight can do more harm than good, so find ways to reduce stress in your life and do things that you enjoy and that build you up. Get into an activity, read, journal, walk, sing etc.

Establish health goals.

Instead of focusing on weight, figure out your own personal goals for health.

How would you like to feel? What would you like to be able to do? What does health mean for you? Your goals may be entirely different from someone else's. Address sleep, fitness, a nourishing and healthy diet, self-esteem, stress reduction, etc. Make your goals SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.

Throw out the scale.

Weighing in can lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with numbers and can detract from the pleasures and non-weight related rewards of changing your lifestyle. Instead of weighing yourself, work on self-acceptance and positive self-image.

Ditch the diet. (This was our Week 27 habit)

Develop a long-term, sustainable healthy lifestyle and way of eating.

You're likely to abandon quick fixes and radical diets after a few weeks, and the yo-yoing of weight is harmful. Make changes you believe in and that you can stick to for the long haul.

Practice radical self-acceptance.

To move forward, you first need to accept where you are.

Self-hate can push you towards dysfunctional coping through binge eating and avoidance. Love, on the other hand, is healing.

While it might seem difficult, I encourage you to work every day on accepting yourself as you are. Practice positive affirmations, such as "Even though I have a problem with ________, I deeply and completely accept myself." Say the affirmations to yourself out loud and they'll slowly work their way into your conscious, even if you don't immediately believe what you are saying.

Get support.

Don't let weight concerns isolate you. Get plugged into your community and get support in your pursuit of health.

If you've experienced discrimination or are in a difficult emotional place, find additional support. Organizations such as Health at any Size and Association for Size Diversity and Health can connect you with resources and a community of supportive people or seek out a compassionate and experienced therapist or health care provider.

Source: MindBodyGreen


Reply to this email or post in our Facebook group with any questions you have and I will gladly help.

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