When I got married almost two years ago, I was comfortably plump. My husband loved the way I looked; in fact he loves the way I look whether I’m slightly thinner or slightly fatter. He sees the inner beauty that escapes me when I’m looking in the mirror.
We all make judgments about our bodies, it’s part of the human condition. But if we get caught up in the “I’m too fat” story, it makes it much harder to reach our optimum weight.
After the wedding, I went on a diet – and it did work. I lost almost two stone and was able to fit into skirts I’d pushed to the back of the wardrobe in shame. Some of that weight has crept back on but I know I’ll never reach those giddy heights on the scales again.
How do I know this? Because I accept that my weight will fluctuate slightly, and that’s OK. But if I stay connected to my body wisdom, I will quickly pick up the signs that I need to watch what I eat and exercise more.
Leading coach Michael Neill, author of the excellent book Supercoach, made a lot of sense in his recent post “Do I look fat in this thought?”. He talks about trusting the self-regulating mechanism of your body to tell you when and what to eat, how much to exercise, when you need to push harder and when you just need a nap.
Your body knows what you need. But you need to listen to your body in order to be sensitive to what it needs. If you have filled your head with thoughts, judgments and beliefs about what you should do to be slim and healthy, you’re not going to hear it.
This doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to eat whatever junk you like – that wouldn’t be in the interests of your body either. But if you try letting go of the need to live up to external standards, that might allow your body to naturally adopt its optimum shape in the world.
I’m going to suck it and see!
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