Loving Your Body Starts With Respecting It
Loving your body isn't something that just happens one day. You're not going to wake up and automatically love the skin you're in. But I do want to emphasize that working towards loving your body is so important to working towards peace with food, and then being able to eat healthy in a sustainable way. But, like any challenge...like anything that seems impossible in the beginning...loving your body takes baby steps.
I was always under the assumption that in order to be "healthy" there had to be some level of dissatisfaction with my body. I thought that hating the size of my butt or thighs would be the drive to staying disciplined with my eating and exercising. I was under the preconceived notion that, if I fully loved my body, I'd "fall off the bandwagon" with being healthy. Yes, it's true!It's true that this was one of the drives of my orthorexic self, the drive for me to keep on restricting and over-exercising. I thought that, as a woman, we have to be dissatisfied with how we look. That's what everyone always talks about, after all, right?But no, it's not true that you have to hate your body, or a piece of your body, in order to "keep up" your health and wellness. Actually, the opposite is true. By loving your body, you're doing the best thing you could possibly do to take care of your body.
But I realize that loving your body is easier said than done. It's not something you can just decide on one morning as you look at yourself naked in the mirror. But loving your body starts with baby steps, one of those steps being respecting it.
The difference in Body Love and Body Respect
There is a difference in loving your body and respecting it. By loving your body, you love every piece of you. By respecting your body, you may still say, "I can't stand my flappy arms" or find yourself covering your face when someone tries to take your picture. But respecting your body means, even though you maybe don't love all of your body, you do what is necessary in respecting it.
This is body respect
Body respect is this...Waking up and eating a nourishing breakfast because it fuels your body in a nourishing way.Not judging your body based on a number on the scale.Listening to your hunger cues and respecting them by eating something.Getting adequate sleep each day.Moving in a way that feels good to you regularly.
Listening to your cravings whatever they may be, and not feeling guilty about them.
Respecting your body changes your mindset to taking care of your body.
You see, respecting your body doesn't have anything to do with how you view your body, physically. It has everything to do with taking care of your body because it's the only one you have. It's trusting that your natural processes in your body are set to take care of you, not to harm you. It's a mindset change that you can make wherever you're at with loving your body. And naturally, as you begin to see your body as your own, to take care of, you'll notice a shift towards loving your body regardless of cellulite, curves, moles, and wrinkles. It's your body to take care of, to respect, and enjoy life in. And the best thing you can do is show it respect.