We live in a strange time. There\u2019s a seemingly constant push from the media and society to be thin, to get skinny, to be a certain size, a certain physique. But, simultaneously, there\u2019s a huge campaign for self-love, loving your body at any and every size, and general body acceptance. It\u2019s hard to not feel like it\u2019s an \u201ceither\/or\u201d proposition. How can you love yourself, love your body, and still be looking to lose weight, or add muscle, or change shape? And conversely, how can you possibly say you won\u2019t \u201clove\u201d yourself until you are a certain size, certain weight, can lift a particular amount?<\/p>\n
I want you to embrace a new mantra \u2013 \u201cboth\/and\u201d. You can both<\/em> love yourself right now, and<\/em> want to make changes or improvements. You can both<\/em> be working to lose weight, and <\/em>indulging your love of pastries now and again. You can both<\/em> flaunt your body at the beach this summer, and<\/em> be training in the gym to flaunt a more chiseled one next summer. Just like the rest of our lives, our body and our health is a journey. Admitting that you\u2019d like to lose some weight doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t or can\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t love yourself now. This body of yours is getting you through each day. This body of yours has gotten you to where you are right now. This body of yours is what will get you to the next place you choose to go in your life.<\/p>\n But, loving your body means more than just loving your size. You can certainly love your body, your curves, your extra pounds, or \u201cmore\u201d to love, but you can also realize that your health might require weight loss, more exercise, a better diet. That doesn\u2019t mean you have to hate your body. On the contrary \u2013 because you love your body, you might need to make changes to make sure you keep that body around for longer! And if you\u2019re eating healthy, exercising, have a strong bill of health, but aren\u2019t a size 2? That\u2019s awesome too! Being your best self isn\u2019t about your pant size or your weight on the scale. Yes, those things might decrease as you make changes to improve your health, but that\u2019s not, or at least really shouldn\u2019t be, the goal.<\/p>\n Make changes because it\u2019s best for you and your health and increases the likelihood that you\u2019ll be around to enjoy your family, friends, and life for a long, long time. If your pant size changes along the way, great. If it doesn\u2019t, that\u2019s great too! Love yourself at every size, but don\u2019t let that love of yourself now prevent you from making changes. Loving your current size isn\u2019t an excuse to not change it if that\u2019s what\u2019s best for your health.<\/p>\n Aubrey Phelps MS RDN LDN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We live in a strange time. There\u2019s a seemingly constant push from the media and society to be thin, to get skinny, to be a certain size, a certain physique….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n