3423: 5 Ideas To Help You Love The Body You're In by Krista O'Reilly-Davi-Digui of A Life In Progress on Body Acceptance

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[00:00:55] This is Optimal Health Daily. Five ideas to help you love the body you're in. By Krista OReilly-Davi-Digui of AlifeInProgress.ca. And I'm Dr. Neal Malik Malik. Hello and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free. It's kind of like an audio book, but with articles instead. And articles from a bunch of different authors. But always with their permission.

[00:01:23] But on Fridays, I do something a little different and I answer your questions. Now don't forget, you can send in your question by going to oldpodcast.com slash ask. Or you can email your question directly to health at oldpodcast.com. So with that, let's jump right in and hear today's article and continue optimizing your life.

[00:01:50] Five ideas to help you love the body you're in. By Krista OReilly-Davi-Digui of AlifeInProgress.ca. Do you love the body you're in? Rarely do I meet a person who can answer this question with a resounding yes. Yes. Or a consistent yes. But if we are to live with vibrant mind-body health and with joy, then we must come to the place of loving our whole selves precisely as we are.

[00:02:17] When we love ourselves, we will continue to grow and mature and heal. Our bodies might change over time. But what matters more is that our mindsets change. That we begin to understand the depth of our worth. That our inherent worth and beauty as human beings has absolutely nothing to do with our physical appearance. Nothing. And even if one day your body ceases to function as it used to, if you lose the use of a limb or become scarred, if you lose your hair or your breasts,

[00:02:47] you are still a whole person, worthy of love, deserving of kindness. And yet, our bodies are a gift, a tool, that permit us to love and serve and experience life. So while our appearance or our able-bodiedness does not dictate our worth, neither do we abuse or neglect the gift. You might be heavier than you want or may be underweight. Your body might scream to you in pain each day. Or perhaps, you are in the thick of an illness that has flipped your life and dreams upside down.

[00:03:16] You might wear scars or burns on your body or carry around a legacy of abuse that was not your fault. But you bear the burden of it on your stooped and weary shoulders anyways. Everyone around might remind you daily of how physically beautiful you are. And yet, all you see is imperfection. You feel disgusted when you see yourself in the mirror. You might live with disability. Or you are aging and cannot quite keep up how you used to. Or how you still want to. But what would happen if you loved the body you're in?

[00:03:46] Hating yourself or constantly feeling the pressure to be better, look better, or perform better is crushing. If today is a gift, and I believe it is, then self-loathing or wishing yourself away is like throwing the gift back to the giver and reminding her of all the ways the gift does not measure up. There is another way. You can choose to love the body you're in. You can offer yourself kindness, compassion, and respect. You can live like you matter and deserve to be here,

[00:04:16] regardless of how much or how little space you take up. You can walk away from abuse and make a decision once and for all to stop abusing yourself. If much of your focus tends to be on changing your body through exercise, nutrition, or disordered eating, I invite you to take even 30 days to try something new. What if instead of trying to change your body, you choose to love it instead? What if every day, very consciously, you begin to practice loving the body you're in?

[00:04:45] I wonder what might happen. Five tips to help you practice loving the body you're in. One, every day, get naked and stand before a mirror. Full-length mirror if possible. Choose one to three aspects of your body to give thanks for. Speak life over yourself. Begin to notice and get brave enough to speak aloud what you like about your own body. For many women, this is painful work. So maybe you start with your feet or your face

[00:05:12] and then branch out from there as comfort increases. Baby step by baby step. Two, move your body in a gentle or joyful way each day. The goal is not to lose weight, strengthen that core, or build muscle mass. The goal here is to simply love your body, to notice where it is holding tension, what it feels like to move and stretch and bend and lift. It is to accept the reality of your current limitations of movement, the chronic pain, or the weakness induced by your condition,

[00:05:42] and to move accordingly. Consider this a practice of moving meditation, an act of loving self-care, a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Three, listen to your self-talk. Do you want to live with peace or joy or with health? If so, then you must control both your tongue and your thought life. Every time you notice yourself berating or criticizing or comparing yourself, stop right in your tracks. You might need to say the word aloud, stop.

[00:06:12] Then, very purposefully, replace the negativity or lies about yourself with kinder truths. Speak three things about yourself that you like, that you are proud of, or that you have done well so far today. Use a notebook or even your phone notes app if you have trouble calming your anxious thoughts so that you can choose differently. This gets easier with practice. Four, do one kind thing for your body each day that reminds you that you matter. Take a bath.

[00:06:41] Crawl into bed early. Buy yourself some new tea to snuggle up with each evening. Take a few extra minutes for a sugar scrub. Apply lotion to your neglected feet. Paint your nails if it makes you happy. Let your significant other rub your back for you. Save money for a regular massage or some calming essential oils. Let go of all those self-improvement goals that make you feel like such a failure and shift your focus to simply loving your body well each day.

[00:07:07] And five, feed yourself vibrant, real foods that help you feel amazing. Again, the goal is not to improve your body. The goal is to simply love the body you're in. Perhaps the body you're in feels tired and achy, so you decide to buy a glass water bottle and drink more water each day. Your body might often feel bloated and constipated, so you decide to make a gorgeous colorful salad for lunch each day with quality fats and protein to replace the burger and fries that are not serving you well.

[00:07:37] You might feel cold all the time, your skin dry or rashy, so you look for ways to include more soothing fats and warming spices to your menu. Learn to nourish yourself well in your kitchen. You might think to yourself that you're already careful about eating and moving your body, but I ask you to be honest about your motivation. Are you making decisions because you disapprove of your body and are trying to make it better, smaller, or more acceptable in some way?

[00:08:03] Or are all your decisions and habits stemming from a place of honoring yourself and treating yourself with dignity and respect? Is the foundation loving the body you're in? Go ahead and give this a try. Commit a minimum of 30 days to this shift of perspective and see what happens. As a holistic nutrition and joyful living educator, and as a person who's experienced chronic pain, mobility issues, disordered eating, and body shame, I can support you in this process

[00:08:31] or point you toward a colleague who would be an ideal fit for your needs. You just listened to the post titled, 5 Ideas to Help You Love the Body You're In by Krista O'Reilly-Davi-Digui of A Life In Progress And I'll be right back with my commentary. If you're a small business, the right hire can be make or break. Hoping the right people see your job posting isn't the best growth strategy. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire,

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[00:10:27] Now I want to be sure I'm clear here. And I would imagine today's author would agree with me. We're not saying to toss out any kind of exercise routine that you've got going on in order to do some of these things. So for example, when we think about tip number four, do one kind thing for your body each day that reminds you that you matter. And she talks about caring for yourself and maybe not worrying so much about doing that specific stretching routine, but just care for your body in other ways.

[00:10:55] We're not saying that now you should just get rid of your stretching and flexibility routine and stop working out. What we're saying is do all those things, but don't forget to take time for yourself also. Take time to do other exercises that just make you feel good and remind you of how wonderful your body is. On going back to tip number one, where the author talks about getting naked and standing before a mirror. Awkward, I know.

[00:11:21] But when I was a health educator for a major HMO here in California, I would help those who are trying to manage their weight. And one of the things we would tell them to do, especially as the weight was coming off, is guess what? This very thing. Stand in front of a mirror, ideally naked. And you would hear gasps from the audience when I would say that. I taught about 40 patients at a time. But then I justified it.

[00:11:46] And I explained, pretty much as Krista explained in her post, that you just have to be honest with yourself. And you have to find at least one thing that you like about your body. And I said, if when you're at home, it's uncomfortable to stand naked in front of a mirror, that's fine. Maybe don't get completely naked, but remove some pieces of clothing and still try and be honest with yourself. Find things that you appreciate about yourself. And luckily, there were some that actually did this and came back to me with really positive feedback.

[00:12:16] It was eye-opening for them. But again, if that doesn't sound like a good idea to you, then don't do it. Maybe it's not the right time at this moment. Try one of the other tips. Try two of them at most and see how they go. But as today's author Krista mentioned, give it some time. Give it a minimum of 30 days and then reassess. All right, that should do it for today. Thank you so much for being here and listening every day. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

[00:12:45] And I'll see you back here tomorrow for the Monday episode and where your optimal life awaits.