What if this moment is exactly as it is supposed to be….our bodies, our weight and our challenges included? What if this IS the perfect order for THIS moment for each of us? Rather than focusing on WANTING something different than what is, what if we could relax and accept now as perfect? Many of us spend a lot of time WANTING. Wanting life to be different, wanting to lose weight, wanting a slimmer waist or thinner thighs, wanting a more fit body, wanting to look differently than we do. What if we just stopped? You have to admit, the fight is mentally exhausting! What if we just stopped wanting and instead, focused on what’s good about our bodies, our lives and our weight right now??
We so often under value the weight we are and our bodies as they are now. We silently think and say things about ourselves that we would never ever verbalize about another person. It’s not until we gain more weight or experience some kind of physical challenge like an illness or injury that we look back and wish would would have enjoyed what we had “then”.
I think the reason some of us don’t want to accept our own perfection, is because we think as long as we are focusing on what we don’t like about ourselves and we keep it at the forefront of our thoughts, we will have a better chance of it changing. We are afraid that if we accept and love ourselves, it’s like we are giving in and we will never make the changes we would like to have happen. But is that true? Does being critical and hard on yourself help you to do your best and change your behaviors? In my experience, it causes me to go the other direction. If I let myself get all worked up thinking about how I have to lose weight, I go into panic mode. In turn, my behaviors go back to wanting what I think I can’t have….more food. It’s a terribly vicious cycle and it’s all self created by the mindset I allow myself to accept as true. I don’t believe I am alone in this…most of us don’t do our best when we feel our worst.
Of course, I am not saying we can’t have weight loss goals or become more fit and healthy. I’m saying the opposite. Maintaining the weight we are at today and enjoying this moment of our journey is also a celebration and when we allow ourselves to feel good about where we are at now, it’s much easier to make healthy choices moving forward. If it doesn’t feel like it, maybe we should consider a shift in our thinking. Even if you are the heaviest you have ever been, I promise you, I see it every day, there IS someone out there who would be happy to lose enough weight to be where you are at this moment. There is someone out there with other challenges who would gladly trade you for yours instead. The problem is, until our situation gets worse, we don’t see it. So-Many-Times—-people tell me they wish they could go back to the weight they were when they first thought they were “fat” and relive it because compared to where they are now, they would be elated. Hmmmm….our perception becomes our reality.
Let’s change our paradigm to the most positive one possible and break this cycle. Let’s not wait until we lose weight or become more fit to be happy with the bodies we have been given. Or worse, let’s not to wait until we GAIN weight or experience an injury or illness, to look back and think how happy we would be if we could be back to where we are right now. Let’s start with loving and accepting our bodies and then work on adding in healthier behaviors and habits. Easy? Nope, it’s not!! That’s why I am writing about it! It takes effort to change our mindset but the whole process changes for the better when it starts with self acceptance and self love. Once we’ve shifted our thoughts, our reality starts to change too. We’ve tried hating the weight off and we know how that works, so let’s try loving it off and seeing beauty in who we are as individuals.
Are you with me?
All is well!
Terra
