Look in The Mirror
Go ahead! I’ll wait….
What did you notice? When you checked yourself out, did you notice your flaws? Did you zero in on those “problem” areas that hundreds of crunches and squats just don’t seem to solve?
Take a moment and consider how you feel about your own body.
Why am I asking you to do this?
Because our diet cycles are a direct result of how we feel about our bodies.
Over the years, society and the media have bombarded you with images of the “perfect” body and has reinforced that thinness is the way to being satisfied with your appearance.
It’s time to challenge that philosophy. Only when we start to do some work to love and appreciate our physical bodies, will be stop spinning our wheels with the dieting mentality.
How many times have you been getting ready to go out and have found yourself grumbling about looking fat, or hating the way your (*insert body part here*) looked in your outfit?
“I’m too fat”
“I look too flabby”
“My legs are tree trunks”
“My thighs are gross”
“My nose is too big for my face”
How many times have you found yourself honing in on one body part and thinking of every way that it’s not good enough?
It’s hard to realize, and to admit, that you’ve been telling yourself things like this for years. It has become such a normal part of your day that the thoughts are automatic, and you rarely take a moment to question their truth.
Like we talked about yesterday, the only way to change these automatic thoughts are to realize that they’re happening and to flip the script.
Let’s dive into today’s worksheet.
Like we've talked about before; the first step to changing the way you feel about yourself is to recognize how you speak to yourself. Once you realize the impact of your words, you can do the work to challenge and change this self-talk.
I encourage you to pay attention to your inner monologue. When harsh statements come up about your body, gently forgive yourself and ask yourself to stop. Take a moment to remind yourself that these harsh words aren’t serving you to love and accept who you are in this moment.
Every day for the next week, I challenge you to wake up, look in the mirror and find one part of yourself that is beautiful. As you look at yourself in the mirror, tell yourself about the beauty you see, whether it is big or small. If that seems like a stretch, offer yourself a neutral stance. Perhaps "this is how I am in this moment" is a start. The goal is to release the polarizing good vs bad judgement you have about your body.
I’d love to hear how you’re making out! Shoot me an email and let me know.
Sarah
A little behind? Here are the links to the previous exercises: