My private PNP members are lucky enough to follow my private journal where I get deep into my personal journey through weight loss and maintenance. Currently, I'm in therapy to learn more about myself and resolve some stinking-thinking that I have found most women have and don't talk ENOUGH about. In my journal, people thank me for telling my story because it sounds just like them!
This week I discussed how I am redefining two areas of my life: the love of racing and sports and the fear of eating and living outside a "diet" life.
I have such a high unrealistic body image standard for myself even though I know my body is just not made that way. My remaining loose skin and shorter legs are not going to change.
And, before someone jumps in here telling me to give my legs a chance you need to go BACK and read my whole blog! I have been maintaining and building muscle for SIX YEARS, had a lower body lift two years ago, and worked harder since to change it.
I can CONFIDENTLY say it's time to deal with things with a new perspective! Besides, regardless if I'm not looking like my perfect image, I want more out of life than to keep "dieting" and start "fueling" to be the sports enthusiast I am. I want to eat my food because it's good for me and not expect it to change how I look. If it changes me, let it make me faster and do a pull-up!
With that said, a wonderful member of my team posted some words in my journal. I thought we could all benefit from Emily Y's wisdom. She "rambled" the following as a re-defining of the perfect body...
The perfect body...can pull itself up a cliff if it falls while out hiking.
The perfect body...can grab her child and run (easily) if someone is chasing them.
The perfect body...feeds the mind by reading and educating herself.
The perfect body...gets out of bed and doesn't feel stiff and in pain because the perfect body is flexible and taken care of.
The perfect body...functions well because it is fed well.
I AM all of these things. I am also...
Loved by the man of my dreams.
Surrounded by women of faith and strength with the same healthy attitude toward life.
Starting to see the perfect body is more a feeling than a reflection. When you value the right things with your body...what it can do...a lot of things fall into place.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve how you look. There's nothing wrong for me to want to look better, make improvements, and such. It's just that until I'm happy now I won't be happy any different. I've been thinner and bigger and the weight never changed my feelings.
When I did things that made me happy, read books about being better, and focused on surrounding myself with positivity I was excited with life and saw myself beautiful. Guess what? I'm on the path to doing those things again and it's working. And once I'm happy I'm sure my body will look and feel just fine.
