BODY IMAGE: Are We STILL Worrying About That?
As someone who has always struggled with her weight, I have, in recent years, focused on eating healthier, doing more walking, and cherishing the extra energy that gives me. What I have not been doing is focusing solely on what the scale says.
I was very pleased to see an autobiography from TV star, Valerie Bertinelli, called “Enough Already” about how the actress and food show host is essentially delivering the same message. The nice thing about famous people writing books about popular topics is that they reach a wider audience than I can with my blogs.
Here are some quotes that I think are particularly relevant for those of us who grew up thinking we were not good enough because of the way our bodies looked:
“At my age, I should no longer be holding my body to the same standard I did when I was eighteen, thirty, or even forty.”
“My body is perfectly fine. Why am I so critical of it? Why do I treat it like an emotional trash can?”
“When I begin to hear the old voices in my head now, I try to close my eyes and breathe through the moment. I calmly tell myself that I am kind, I am good, and I am beautiful just the way I am right now.”
So the way to feel better about yourself is not to diet constantly and worry about your body all the time. The way to feel better about yourself is not to equate your body image and weight with your self-worth. Bertinelli talks about “How do you change the narrative? By being present and aware.” Mindful eating is one way to go forward, but even that focuses on food.
Another way to change the narrative is to love yourself the way you are now. In her book, Belinelli provides a list of how she does that. I suggest that we all make our own lists and use them when we are feeling self-critical or weak. I start off with things like this: be patient with others and myself; show my love for those I care about; whenever I have a negative thought, try to follow it with a positive one; when I can’t shut my mind off, get up and do something; try something new, even if it is hard; whatever you have, pay it forward and do for others.
Whatever you have on your list, the thing to remember is that if you want others to love you, first you have to love yourself, especially the way you are now. Find this and other interesting Blogs on www.dralisonblock.com