How much time, money, and energy do you spend wishing your body was smaller, different, or better? This is the time, money, and energy that could have be spent on countless other things aside from trying to alter your body's appearance. Its nearly impossible to avoid; we're bombarded with images of perfect bodies and we're constantly being sold diet plans (or excuse me, "lifestyle changes") and bikini body workouts. Every advertisement suggests, "your body is something to fix."
A radical idea-
Your body is fine.
Every inch of your body does not need to be manipulated or tweaked. That fat on your hips and the cellulite on your touching thighs are insignificant. Can you imagine a life in which you can accomplish big, scary things without being interrupted by thoughts questioning if you ate too many calories that day? While we can’t control the world’s obsessions with presentation, we can choose to be bold and trust that our actions and ambitions are too important and too loud to be muted by thoughts obsessing over the size of our bodies and every bite of food that goes into our mouths.
We can’t take care of our bodies if we are battling them. We can’t feed them adequately, move them, and rest them if we hate them. There is no reason to take care of something you are at war with.
We don’t see the people we love as a compilation of body parts, a myriad of problems, or pieces of flesh that must be “fixed” with diets. Moving away from fixating on negative body image starts by extending that to ourselves as well. You are more than a sum of body parts, more than something to be looked at; you are not just meant to be seen, but to be heard.
Can you trust that your worth goes beyond what can be measured and what can be seen? Can you trust that the best parts of you can’t be held in someone else’s hands?
There is freedom in letting go of the constant curating of our bodies. We are bound to end up exhausted with no energy left to spend on the things that will make us feel whole. We risk discomfort if we give up chasing perfection that doesn’t exist, but we bet on gaining the headspace, the thoughtfulness, and the liveliness that can come when we give ourselves permission to accept our bodies as they are.
Want to learn more about virtual nutrition counseling and disordered eating recovery with an intuitive eating nutritionist? Contact Jaeger Nutrition today