Are you unhappy with your body? Do you find that the relationship between you and your body is ruining your life?
I know how it feels to look at yourself in the mirror and just feel like you want to cry. You always feel socially anxious, and you hate yourself when you decide to stress-eat a box of Dunkin Donuts. You just can’t lose that belly fat. And no matter how hard you try you can’t get to the body that looks like this super hot IG model. If you’ve been trying to lose weight for years but got nowhere, then it’s time to ditch whatever you’ve been trying to do and try a whole new approach. I’ve had an unhealthy relationship with my body for years. It was filled with self-hating, terrible eating habits, and bad mental health. It came to a point where it was ruining all aspects of my life.
Today, I want to share three main things I did that transformed my mindset and my relationship with my body. I feel good about myself now and I wouldn't trade my body with anyone else. If I can do it, then you can do it, too.
Are you ready? Say enough to self-loathing! Time to step up and turn your whole life around with these three steps.
1. Take a look at the people you follow on IG and real life
People around you have a big influence on how you feel about yourself and your body. Does your family comment on your weight and make you feel bad about it? Do people at work tell you that you should start dieting and exercising?
If they do, it might be the time to talk some sense into them. What they’re doing is not cool at all. And they probably don’t think it’s doing you any harm. Tell them that you don’t appreciate it and it’s affecting you negatively. Even the super-hot models you follow on Instagram for motivation. Some of them may not be as healthy as you think they are. You might have good intentions following them. Maybe you were looking for motivation or inspiration. But in reality, the opposite is happening. All it does is just make you feel worse about your body image. Some of these people might not even look like the photos on their page. They might even not be healthy at all.
Go through your following and unfollow. Repeat. Don't stop until your feed is clean from them. Check this blog, to know more why social media is getting the blame for insecurities.
I started in the fitness industry as a young teenager and I took my first fitness class solo and thought that I nailed it, and was told so by most of the attendees, but right afterward after everyone left, two class attendees told me I was no good for over 30 mins afterward. Or after getting back from seeing my family in Northern Ireland and being in Europe for 2 weeks I was told I put on weight by the same two people. Before they told me that I DIDN’T CARE. But I was young and figured they must know better.
Fast forward 6 months and I realised that both their biggest fears were to put on weight and so in some kind of sick sense they were being “caring” because their worst nightmare would end to put weight on! If you're looking for more cost-effective ways to diet and exercise, click this link.
2. Learn to accept and love your body as it is
Let’s face it. No matter how much you hate your body it’s a part of you and it’ll be with you until you die. Why choose to hate it?
For every part of your body that you frown on, there are hundreds of people that would envy you for it.
We are all created differently, and each one of us has a unique build. No matter how consistent you are with your diet and workouts, you will never get a body like Jennifer Aniston or Beyoncé and GOOD!
This does not mean that you stop working toward being healthy. But it does mean you stop punishing yourself and hating yourself.
When you learn to start accepting and loving your body, eating healthier and exercising actually becomes easier. And that’s faaaaar more important than looking like an Instagram model.
You might not get that body that you wanted (seriously, that ‘ideal’ body should no longer exist in your head). By being healthy, you’ll get a better version of yourself. A better version of the body that belongs to YOU.
I hated my body for a long time. But at some point, I decided that hating my body was ruining my life and getting me nowhere. When I finally accepted my natural shape, taking good care of my body by eating healthier and exercising became much easier.
Fixing that relationship with your body can take some time. It won’t happen overnight, and that’s okay.
Start by doing simple daily self-affirmations about your body.
Each time you look in the mirror, say one thing you like about your body, “I like my legs because they help me run.” In fact, exercise helped me because I started really appreciating what each part of my body could do!
3. Focus on your health, not weight loss (ditch that scale!)
Don’t skip meals because you want to lose weight. But aim for a healthier you.
When you start skipping meals you’re slowing your metabolism, you feel deprived and hangry. Next thing you know you’re binging on two boxes of pizza.
And bam! The scale tells you you gained some extra pounds.
Want to be healthier? Start small. Pick one change at a time.
No matter how motivated or well-intentioned you are, adopting too much, too soon, and nothing will stick. One step at a time.
Here are some things you can start implementing:
Drink plenty of water
Keep alcohol for the weekend and special occasions only
Get 5,000 steps a day, and increase as you feel more comfortable
Try healthier recipes and include more veggies
As you get healthier (and you will get there), you start feeling good. And it’s hard not to feel happy with your body when you feel amazing (good health does that to you).
I’m here to help
If you’re still struggling with body image and don’t know where to start, don’t forget that I’m here to help!
I'm Susan Baxter and I'm a professional holistic coach. I understand the struggle you're facing right now because I've been there, too.
Drop me a message in my DM and we can start talking about how awesome your body is and how can we transform YOU into a better version of yourself. You can also reach us through Facebook and Instagram.
Commentaires