“You can’t heal a body you hate,”
– Dr. Will Cole
We are issued one body in this lifetime. It is all we are going to get. We can choose to think fondly of it or not.
Consider this: if you overheard a mother speaking to her child and she said things like, “I can’t stand to even look at you. I am disgusted by you. I hate you.”
How confident would you feel about the care that mother is providing for her child? Does she sound like the kind of mother that makes sure her child gets nutritious food, play time, plenty of rest, love, support, comfort, and understanding? Or would you be concerned about abuse?
I can’t tell you how many times people came to me for help with weight loss and they told me things like, “my body is disgusting,” “I can’t even stand looking at myself in the mirror anymore,” “I absolutely hate my body.”
As our own caregivers, what we say, think and feel about our body matters. We are always listening. We treat those we love with more kindness and compassion than those we hate.
It is therefore backwards thinking to assume you will love your body once you lose the weight. It is decidedly more probable that you will lose the weight by loving your body FIRST.
Odds are higher that we will properly nourish, exercise, and rest a body that we care deeply about than one we don’t.
I do mirror work every morning as advised by my coach. It has evolved over time. But for the past three years, every morning no matter where I am, I look at myself in the mirror dead in the eyes and say, OUT LOUD, “I love you. I will take care of you.”
I promise you what started out feeling awkward and cringey has become a ritual I look forward to daily. We can’t count on anyone in this world to love us or take care of us for the rest of our days. The only one guaranteed to always be there is you. Shouldn’t you have your own back? Wouldn’t it be nice to ALWAYS have a cheerleader that is rooting for you and being kind to you?
Trust me on this one, love your body. It’s the only one you are ever going to get.
Make good choices.
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