“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” ~ Louise Hay
When I first came across the idea of radical self acceptance I had been fully battling my body shape size and appearance for years with extreme dieting and exercise. The thought of actually just loving and accepting myself felt impossible. The idea to be honest just felt dumb. I mean if I just started loving my body just like it was I would just start gaining weight, eating all the junk food and why on earth would I want to workout if I actually like how I looked? The idea of letting go scared me so much. The truth is I hated the idea and thought it was stupid for years. But as I embarked on a journey to heal, a spiritual awakening you might say I began to see things so much differently. I slowly began to start to love myself inside and out. And with that true love and self acceptance came a better way of nourishing myself and exercising my body. Food became more about loving my body so much I wanted to feed it the best quality fuel possible. I no longer felt the urge to binge on “unhealthy foods” because when I did choose to eat them it was from a place of love for my body and the pleasure it receives from the food.
My workouts became about how I could move my body in a way that it needed to be its strongest best self. I no longer pushed myself through injuries and began to listen to the natural energy ups and downs my body had. I started working out because it felt good instead of pushing to the point of hurting and being tired all the time.
Now I won’t lie, I still have moments when the sneaky voice in the back of my mind tries to convince me to try another diet just to get the next couple pounds off. But when I tune in and listen to where that voice is coming from I realize that it is not in my best interest to force my body or cause it harm or suffering.
And how has this change affected my body? Well I can't tell you weight because I haven’t stepped on a scale in years. But I can tell you from how my clothes fit. My body really has found a stable balanced size. Before when I was restricting myself I was up and down all the time. I feel like every time I relax more into this mindset my body may even trim down a fraction more of the weight it held for so long out of fear for the next restrictive diet.
So the truth is the more I trust my body the more it trusts me and lets go too.
And the best part is how I feel. I feel more confident in my own skin than I ever have.
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