Love Yourself Slim

I love walking the streets of Paris and watching lovers unapologetically display their affection.  The passion, romance, attentiveness; it’s magical.

The best way to lose weight is to go back to that place of love, but this time, direct it inward.  Yes, you need to become your own lover.

Lovers rarely criticize, make nasty judgments or crude comments about each other.  Instead, there is a respect, love and connection that brings two people together to experience joy and happiness.

I’m not surprised that many women in our culture are overweight and cannot find peace with food. They are in a constant battle with themselves. We hate our thighs, our arms, our stomachs.  I recently had a client who absolutely loathed her toes.  Her toes!!!

How do we expect to lose weight in such a hostile environment?  It’s miserable.  Even if you lose the weight, it will reappear because you’ve created an internal battle that will always place you at the end of your own trigger.

So, in order to drop pounds and became the most amazing you, you must first love yourself at this very moment.  I don’t care if your ass is the size of Texas, love thy ass and love it with all of thy heart.

Think about this:  Would you expect a child to flourish in a home where he is constantly being criticized and told that he is stupid, worthless, and hopeless?  Of course not.  But each time you inwardly scold yourself, you are creating the same toxic environment that keeps your inner child from flourishing.  STOP.

Once you begin to love your body and yourself, an amazing transformation begins to happen.  No longer are you detached from yourself, but instead you are so connected to your body, your needs, and your life.  Gradually, as you begin to accept your body “as is,” you will notice that you choose an apple over a doughnut or maybe a walk over a watching the latest “Grey’s Anatomy.”  And you’ll know that you’ve connected because it will not feel like deprivation; instead, you will feel amazingly good because you will be honoring your body, the body that you have at that very moment.

Now, getting to this place of self-love is not easy, especially considering that many women are so disconnected that they cannot even feel their feelings (physical and emotional).  But, believe it or not, we were meant to be loving creatures, especially to love ourselves.  All it takes is constant vigilance.  That’s right.  I expect you to stay up day after day, night after night, and march around the walls of your mind and note any self-sabotaging talk.  Keep a journal and write everything down that you’ve been telling yourself, most likely for years.  Once you have your thoughts on paper, look at it, and ask yourself, “Would I let anyone talk to my child, spouse, mom, dad, brother, sister, or anyone you love like this?”  If you care for them the answer should be “NO.”

Still, it’s not so easy.  Since you’ve most likely been telling yourself that you have “cottage cheese thighs,” “arms that resemble wings,” or a “hangy stomach” (these are real client’s comments), you have accepted this non-sense as true.  Stop, write it down, and look at it.  I mean really look at it.

Our thoughts are the root of our troubles, not our thighs, or our arms, or any external circumstance.  It’s our own personal judgments that we make about them.  And guess what?  Thoughts can be changed quicker than the circumference of your backside, so work on your thoughts first, and the rest will slowly and effortlessly begin to conform to your new way of thinking (and loving).