With so much information out there about health and fitness, from coaches encouraging shame and "no pain, no gain" approaches to others telling you to ditch diet culture completely, it can be hard to feel comfortable with wanting to change your body while still loving yourself.
In this episode of Fed and Fearless, I'm offering an alternative to that either/or of diet and anti-diet culture. By employing these 9 tips, you can love your body while still achieving your health and fitness-related goals, without guilt.
We need to learn to be kind to ourselves. Imagine if other people spoke to us the way our inner critic can? We absolutely wouldn't put up with it from them, so why do we allow ourselves to be so mean? And while we're breaking up with things, it's time to ditch the obsession with your scale. I don't mean you have to never weigh yourself again, but if you attach negative feelings or get upset by what the number is, maybe you shouldn't be using the scale in your journey.
You should curate your social media feed so that it's not filled with images that make you feel ashamed or guilty. It also shouldn't be an echo chamber of people who are never changing. Your social media feeds should inspire you and fill you with positivity.
Embarking on a health and fitness goal isn't always going to be easy. Learning to love the harder parts is all part of the journey - and I'm not talking about that "no pain, no gain" sentiment. And you should absolutely be grateful for what your body can do right now - you're alive, right?
In fact, I'd say that your health and fitness goals shouldn't be the most important thing in your life. You should be honoring and prioritizing your values and hobbies above anything else. This helps you feel content about where you are now, even if you do have bigger health goals in mind.
Finally, ditch the guilt from whoever or wherever it's coming from about wanting to achieve your health goals. You deserve to focus on the goals that feel good to you! And that includes embracing the entire journey to get there… whether you actually make your goals or not.
Which of these 9 tips is the most practical for you to start implementing? Which one are you the most excited about? Which tip has impacted you the most? Let me know in the comments on the episode page.
Got a question you'd love to hear me answer on the show? Leave me a voice message here!
"Being kind to yourself is not only going to make you feel about your body and about who you are, but it's also going to help you be more effective in reaching your goals and changing your body." (8:28)
"Failure is not something that is only happening to you. To be able to reach your health goal means that you have to be able to willing to embrace these failures." (19:34)
"Whatever your goal is when it comes to your health and your body, it's nobody else's business to tell you what your goal should be. I want you to give yourself permission to pursue the goals that are meaningful to you." (34:51)
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Got a question you'd love to hear me answer on the show? Leave me a voice message here!
