Many people think body acceptance and weight loss are contradictory goals, but they’re not.
In fact, not only can both goals coexist, but many times weight loss IS a byproduct of body acceptance.
At the very least, achieving your Ideal Body is a natural side effect of this acceptance.
Don’t get this backwards though.
The body acceptance comes first. Your Ideal Body comes after.
Most people have the belief that they will accept themselves after they lose weight. It’s conditional acceptance. And it rarely leads to the outcome they were hoping for. If it did, they wouldn’t be struggling years or decades later.
Here’s the better way of approaching your health and fitness…
Understand that body acceptance simply means appreciating and respecting your body as it is right now.
It doesn’t mean you can’t want to change it. It means you recognize your body’s worth regardless of its current state.
Acceptance doesn’t mean complacency either. You take real steps towards improving your health, energy, and overall well-being.
When you don’t accept yourself, the intention behind your behaviors is different.
Instead of action coming from a desire to take care of yourself, it ends up coming from self-criticism, societal pressure, and low self-worth.
This is important to understand because the behaviors you engage in when you accept your body are not the same behaviors you engage in when you reject it.
Acceptance leads to balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, and prioritized well-being.
Rejection leads to restrictive diets, extreme exercise, and an obsessive focus on weight.
With acceptance you listen to your body and honor its needs.
With rejection you honor your weight loss goals at the expense of your body’s needs.
You fight hunger, engage in exercise just to burn calories, and live day to day by the number on the scale.
It doesn’t work. Any “progress” that is seen never lasts. And you’re left even more frustrated and still hating your body as always.
The key in all this is to focus on taking care of yourself. Put your weight loss on the back burner. Your body is going to gravitate to the weight it should be as a natural side effect of this self-care.
Separate your worth from your appearance. Pay attention to what your body can do instead of how it looks. Treat yourself with kindness throughout your journey. And make changes from a place of love instead of hate.
Talk soon…