I have to admit, I struggled with whether or not to publish this post.  I’ve started to write this post about four times, and each time, I’ve deleted everything I wrote and ended up just staring at a blank page.  I guess it’s because it can be a touchy subject, and I’m afraid that any part of what I write could be taken the wrong way.

So, here goes nothing.  I am possibly one of the least qualified persons to speak on loving your body now- as is. I have been guilty in the past of being overly critical of my own body, and would be lying if I said I no longer have discontented thoughts toward my own body sometimes.  But what woman hasn’t.  I could go on and on about why we all feel this way- blame advertising for giving us impossible standards to live up to, blame some of our mothers for passing their own hatred of their bodies on to us, but I’m not going to do that.  Because at the end of the day, it comes down to how we view our own bodies.  When we get in to a place where we’re constantly saying “Why don’t I look like her” or “What I would give to look like that”.  We’re focusing on all the wrong things.

But if we shift our perspective from what our bodies look like, to what they are capable of doing, it changes everything.  When we start to think about all the things that some of our bodies are capable of- from simply standing and walking- which, perhaps, many of us take for granted, to intense training for a sport or recreation, we realize how amazing they truly are. When we change the challenge in our heads from “I want to be super skinny” to “I want to finish a 5K”, our view of our body shifts from possible discontentment in appearance to appreciation of our body’s physical abilities and resilience.



Now, I’m not saying eat garbage all day and lay around on your couch saying “Woo hoo!  No heart attack today!  My body rocks!”  Part of loving your body is treating it like you would a loved one.  You wouldn’t slowly poison or neglect a loved one.  In my opinion, that’s exactly what you’re doing to your body when you feed it unhealthy foods and don’t give it any physical activity.

No matter how far gone you think you are, once your perspective of your body shifts from a physical ornament to something you are grateful for and amazed by it’s ability to function, at times, despite repeated abuse or neglect, everything changes.  Our bodies are resilient.  It can often take years and years of punishment before finally giving up on you. 

I thank God daily for my body putting up with the beat down I put it through sometimes.  I like pushing my body and challenging my limits.  Although I know I put it through some pretty grueling trials sometimes, I also pamper it later for it’s efforts.  I refuel it with nutrient-packed foods that I know will nurture it.  I try to get enough  sleep so it can properly recover.  It’s my way to saying “thank you for letting me push you today.  Let’s do it again tomorrow”. 

And although I’m just as guilty as the next person when I think “Hmm wish my waist came in just a little bit more”, I try to catch myself and remember “I’m thankful for a strong core to help hold up my upper body and allow me to squat with proper form.  I love my waist for that”.  A little cheesy, I know.  But it’s true!

Simply making a decision to start living healthier is the first step to loving your body.  What do we do with people we love?  We take care of them.  We show them we love them through our actions.  So part of loving your body now means accepting it in the state it is in RIGHT NOW- not 10 lbs lighter from now, not when we have a 25 inch waist, NOW.  And by loving it now, that means you start caring for it now.  Not so you can look a certain way, but so you can thank your body for all that it does for you.  And by doing that, you’ll have even more to be thankful for as your body’s capabilities begin sky rocketing once you properly care for it.

I love the quote above in the photo- “Loving your body ONLY when it is in perfect shape is like loving your kids ONLY when they are well-behaved.”  Because anyone with, or has been around, young children know that many of them are not perfectly well-behaved a majority of the time.  But you love them anyway.  And because you love them, you continue to work with them, discipline them, help mold them into a good person.  And so it’s only through love that we are able to raise them into (mostly) well-behaved adults.  If we didn’t love, them, we’d leave them to their own devices, and perhaps they could end up alright, or they could end up in a world of trouble.  The point is, we wouldn’t leave it up to chance.  Our bodies are no different- We shouldn’t leave it up to chance.

Begin caring for your body out of love, and I promise you, it will turn into something capable of more than you ever imaged.