How to Love Your Body NOW, While Working Toward Your Goals
Good afternoon, my lovely!
Today I wanted to clear up some confusion.
Something that I was actually confused about my self when I first embarked on the journey of "loving myself."
I saw all these Instagram posts and social media trends about loving myself, accepting my body as it was, and just finally being able to love the skin I'm in.
But this brought up a few questions for me:
If I "love" the skin I'm in, does that mean I have to just stay at the (weight, body fat %, whatever) I am and just settle here?
...Is loving myself "settling"? What if I start loving myself and then all of a sudden I lose interest in the gym, eating healthy, etc.?
I wanted to shed light on this topic because maybe you have some of the same questions.
And maybe, like I was, you're scared to fully accept yourself NOW because you're scared that will make you complacent in your fitness and health goals.
But I want to reassure you of something that I say to my coaching clients all the time:
YOU CAN STILL LOVE YOURSELF NOW, WHILE WORKING FOR WHAT YOU WANT.
Let's break this down into a real-life example:
Let's say you just got a new job as a lawyer. You've gone to law school, passed all your exams, and you get your dream job. You're over-the-moon excited, and genuinely love going to work every day.
So do you just settle there? Just do the bare minimum required to get by?
No, chances are because you LOVE what you're doing - you're going to test your limits, work harder than you ever have, and strive to excel at this new position. And who knows, maybe even get a promotion or own your own law firm because of it!
It's the same thing with our bodies:
When we learn to operate out of a place of LOVE rather than a place of FEAR or HATE, we understand that the most important thing we can do for ourselves is to fuel our bodies with nutritious food, move more, get better/higher quality sleep, and get nice and sweaty.
Not because you don't love yourself, but because you DO.
You want to feed your body healthy, whole foods that make it thrive and give you energy throughout the day -- because you love yourself enough to do so.
You want to make working out a priority in your life because movement makes you feel good, releases endorphins and helps you achieve whatever body-type makes you FEEL most confident -- because you love yourself enough to do so.
So no, accepting your body and loving it to pieces doesn't make you complacent, lazy or just give up on your fitness goals... if anything, it motivates you to WORK HARDER, BECOME STRONGER and KICK AZZ in your life because you know that you are WORTH it.
You see, for so long I tried to do it in the opposite way: hating my body into changing it.
... Lord knows that didn't work.
I spent SO much time and money on new gym memberships, gimmicky fad diets, BS fitness plans, and always chasing around what I thought would be the magic ticket to my ideal body.
Well guess what? I never found that magic ticket.
(Sorry to burst your bubble, because it doesn't actually exist).
Instead, through hard work, discipline and motivating myself to stay on track (even when I'd rather eat lay in bed with my poodle, binge watch Netflix, eat 8 boxes of cereal and drown myself in Halo Top, and nap all day)..
I learned what it means to TRULY love myself.
To appreciate my body for all that it is, and all that it does.
I mean seriously -- our bodies help us get out of bed in the morning, brush our teeth, shower, drive a car, go on a walk with someone we love, cook delicious food, dance the night away. The least we can do is continue to treat it with respect by eating well and staying active!
In the end, this is the only body you'll ever have in this lifetime.
You owe it to yourself to love and appreciate it now (even if you're not where you want to be... yet!) while still working hard, killing it in the gym, and staying committed to fueling your body with whole foods.
Not because you hate your body. Not because it's not good enough.
But because it IS good enough.
YOU are good enough.
Always have been, always will be - no matter what size or shape you are.
Don't settle where you are.
You can always improve - in every area of your life.
Move. Eat well. Get some sleep. Love yourself and those around you.
THAT, my friends, is how you can love yourself - truly, genuinely - but still work your aZz off to get to where you want to be.
It makes your fitness journey a LOT more fun and enjoyable, by the way. <3
xoxo
Julie
Comment below: what are some ways YOU practice self love?