With the New Year just around the corner, we are inundated with tips about how to manage our weight during the holidays and ads for weight loss products. It is said that over 50% of New Year resolutions pertain to weight loss. Americans spend more than sixty billion dollars a year on diets, and 95% of dieters end up being as heavy or heavier than when they started. There are medical dangers involved with weight cycling, and self-esteem takes another hit every time you try and fail.
Don’t “weight” to live your life this year. Instead of pouring money into an industry that depends on you failing and has to include the phrase “results not typical” anytime they try to sell their bogus products, consider making a true investment in your overall wellbeing:
1. Stop weighing yourself. Shift your focus from weight and cosmetic fitness goals to compassionate weight-neutral self-care.
2. Clean out your closets. Give away or box up everything that doesn’t fit, is uncomfortable, or that you haven’t worn in years. Get it out of your daily view so you can start your day without being reminded of what you feel you lack. Fill your closets with beautiful, comfortable clothing that you love AND feel good in right now. Consider hiring a stylist that can help you find clothes that make you feel great in the body you have today. Or check out Kelly Rae Roberts’ Wear Your Joy Project that will help you get dressed up in joy and awaken new ways of seeing yourself. At a minimum, buying some new underwear and a bra and pair of jeans that fit are game changers.
3. Find forms of movement that bring a smile to your face and don’t involve staring at a digital display. Let go of rules about what counts and identify joyful ways to move your body. Look for dance classes, hiking groups, or other ways to spend your time.
4. Take time on a day you don’t have to work to find a few recipes and make a plan to prepare two or three meals each week. Buy the ingredients on your day off so when you get home from work, you don’t have to think about what you are going to make. You can pick the recipe that sounds the best and spend your time making a delicious meal. Why does this help so much? Healing your relationship with food means accepting that you have a body that requires food throughout the day. Planning to be an eater is compassionate. Not having food available when you are hungry is stressful – over and over again.
5. Make an appointment for a little TLC. A massage, pedicure, acupuncture treatment or a good hot soak give you time to come home, however briefly, to the body you have.
6. Take a walk with a friend you can open up to.
7. Take a class you’ve always been interested in – photography, foreign language, gardening, stained glass making, etc.
8. Seek support. Consider finding a community that isn’t focused on dieting and weight loss.
9. Take yourself out to a favorite restaurant for a delicious meal for one.
10. Commune with nature, take in the beauty, and sit down to journal or draw. (This song from Bon Iver always inspires us to get out in nature.)
11. Pause for five minutes each morning and evening. You might sit in stillness with your hand over your heart, practice loving kindness meditation (we like this one from Curvy Yoga), or write in your journal (some people like the idea of a gratitude journal).
12. Buy art and gifts that celebrate your body.
13. Fill your social media feeds with body positive warriors. If you need ideas, check out who we follow.
14. Plan a trip that you’ve always dreamed of taking.
As you can see, there are so many different things you might do. And remember:
“The scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That’s it. It cannot measure beauty, talent, purpose, life force, possibility, strength, or love. Don’t give the scale more power than it has earned. Get off the scale and live your life. You are beautiful!” (NEDA)
So, how might you invest in yourself this next year?
“How might you invest in yourself (not the dieting industry) next year? http://ctt.ec/fURx0+
#BodyTrust @BeNourished”
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