At a recent BBQ, a lovely lady said “You talk a lot about self-love. I’m not interested in loving myself, but I would like to lose some weight. Can you help?”
“Loving yourself is for sissies!”
It such a juicy question because self-love is something that most people don’t talk about in the weight loss equation.
Maybe you resonate with her.
I know I did. Heck, I was her for 15 years!!!
I used to be very dismissive of anyone who mentioned self-love.
“Loving yourself is for sissies,” I believed.
Much like the lady at the BBQ, I just wanted to fit my skinny jeans.
But here’s the interesting thing.
Even when I was skinny, I didn’t like myself.
I’d lose weight with a very rigid diet, and even when I was in a smaller sized body, and fitted my skinny jeans, I still didn’t love who I saw in the mirror.
It was me in smaller sized jeans — still not liking myself.
How’s that joyful or meaningful?
Because of advertising, messages from the media, we’ve been conditioned to believe that slimness guarantees self-love.
But it’s simply not true.
It works the other way around.
When you start loving who you see in the mirror — including ‘that bit extra’ around your tummy — from that kind, gentle and loving space, you’ll be motivated to create the changes you need to make so you can fit your skinny jeans.
Here’s what I know to be true.
When your self-love is high, it feels natural to make more nutritious food choices.
When your self-love is high, it feels abhorrent to treat your body like a rubbish bin.
When your self-love is high, it feels effortless to say no to that fourth chocolate biscuit.
Because why would you ever abuse something you love?
So I encourage you, as you move through today, start to make choices for your body from a place of love.
And your body will love you for it.
I hope you found that helpful.
See you next week for another making peace with food tip x