5 Ways to Have More Body Love

The way we think about and view our body matters.

It matters because when we have a positive body image (or what I’m choosing to call body love), we feel comfortable in our body and happy with the way we look.

And when we’re comfortable and happy,

then we are able to be in tune with what our body really needs (physically and emotionally).

We treat our body well and take care of it instead of beating it up, punishing it with strict diets, disordered eating, intense workouts, or overeating in an attempt to numb out all our emotional distress with food.

Here are 5 ways you can begin to have more body love today!

 

Number 1: Change the way you think about your body’s blueprint.

I can’t tell you how many times I used to tell myself I got the bum end of the deal when it came to the body I got.

Why did God give me this short, squatty, body? Didn’t he know I would want a tall, long-legged, big eye, white straight teethed, hourglass body?

I was like a Poodle wishing she could be a Great Dane.

After years of trying to morph into something I would never EVER be able to become, I decided to change the way I think about my body.

I now choose to think about where my body came from.

It was created by a perfect God, and he doesn’t make mistakes or ugly things.

Therefore, my body is the perfect body for me.

It is the one my Maker wanted me to have.

He loves it and He loves me so maybe I could love my body and myself too?

Number 2: Focus on what you appreciate about your body more than you focus on what you don’t.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box for this one.

Think about the things you would miss if suddenly they were gone.

I always picture Stephanie Nielson, the beautiful woman who was burned in an airplane crash. Her body was not the same for a long, long time.

If you had an accident or something similar that affected your body, what would you miss?

The ability to walk? You can’t walk without a body.

The gift of touch? – a hug, a massage, being able to have fingernails to scratch an itch?

Eyes to see, lungs that breath, a digestive system that works?

There are all sorts of things we take for granted that if they were suddenly gone, we would miss.

Keep a running list of all these things.

Writing them down helps you to focus on all the amazing things about your body.

Can you think of 2-3 new things your appreciate about your body every day?

Number 3: Dress your body well.

Buy clothes that fit and get rid of the ones that don’t!

Wearing clothes that fit and are comfortable -not too small or too baggy- that look good on you is showing love for your body.

Number 4: Stop body bashing.

Stop saying mean things about your body.

Like your mom used to tell you: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” and that means out loud to others or silently to yourself!

Body bashing will not make you lose weight quicker it will actually slow down the process – I promise. (Been there, done that! Check out this post on Instagram.)

Getting together with your friends and joking about how gross you are or how big your thighs are or how jiggly your stomach is, is just hurting you more.

It’s still body bashing whether it’s done in a joking manner, or not.

Body Bashing also includes that conversation you have with yourself when you pass by a mirror or you see a picture of yourself.

If you wouldn’t say it out loud to your best friend, don’t say it silently to yourself either!

This is a practice. It will take you catching yourself saying these things and deliberately choosing to stop maybe even mid-sentence and reminding yourself “Hey! We’re not talking like that to ourselves about ourselves anymore.”

Number 5: Neutralize your thoughts about your body.

It’s hard to go from “I hate my body” to “I love my body”.

The brain will reject it and it won’t stick no matter how many times you repeat it to yourself.

In order to get from “I hate my body” to “I love my body”, we have to what I call ladder up our thoughts.

The easiest way to do this is to neutralize them, which looks like this:

Any time you find yourself wanting to go to your go-to I hate my body way of thinking, you’re instead going to simply think “I have a body.”

See how neutral that is?

You’re not adding any adjectives to it which makes it very boring.

Everyone has a body.

Moving to this simple statement “I have a body” will help you break the habit of thinking “I hate my body”.

Once you feel like the habit is broken then you can start to work your way up the ladder eventually making your way up to a believable thought of I love my body.

As you go about implementing these exercises, please remember they are new and you are new at them.

You will have to practice them over and over again.

You won’t be perfect at it, you will slip up sometimes and that’s ok.

Be patient with yourself and with the process.

Your body image has been with you for years and years, you can’t expect to heal it overnight or even in a week.

Keep at it.

Little by little you will begin to notice a shift.

It’s working.

Keep going!