5
Ways to Love Your Body
Let Cupid Take Aim at You
-- By Carre Myers Smith, Health & Exercise
While many of us have an easy
time showering other people with love, we find that Cupid has
yet to hit us with the "body love" arrow. Don’t wait
for Cupid! Begin today to start appreciating, accepting and
yes, even loving your body.
Stop picking yourself
apart
Let’s face it: No matter how close-to-perfection body you have
(and just what is the perfect body anyway?), chances are, there
is something you would change about it if you could. Even celebrities
and models who have been stamped with the media’s "perfect
body" rating have parts they dislike – their feet, their
hands, their ears – and they don’t necessarily have high self-esteem
either! Rather than pick your body apart, look at your body
as a whole (and read the next point…)
Consider the marvelous
functions of your body
There are millions of microscopic functions that go on in our
bodies every day, and you don’t even have to think about them.
They just happen! Unfortunately, it often takes a crisis or
a tragedy, such as a brush with death, a go-around with a disease,
or a debilitating accident for some women to realize that their
bodies weren’t so bad to begin with and that their body hang-ups
were a big waste of time. Don’t let that be the case with you!
How much time are you spending each day worrying about your
weight, your body shape, the size of your rear? What could you
be doing during that time? Maybe you’re supposed to be the first
female president, but you’ll never know because you’re too busy
obsessing about your abs!
Get real
Did you know that most of the images you see on television,
movies and magazines aren’t even real? A model for a magazine
cover goes through hours of professional hair and make-up, has
professional stylists, top photographers who know her "best
side," professional lighting, and that’s all before the
chosen photo goes to a company where they remove stray hairs,
wrinkles, blemishes and "extra" curves. Sometimes
Model A’s head is stuck onto Model B’s body. What you see is
totally made up!
And it’s not just fashion magazines
that are creating a fantasy. Most of today’s "fitness"
magazines are following suit. On top of airbrushing and computer
generating their models, fitness magazines now need to audition
their models to be sure they’re strong enough to just do basic
exercises! Muscles are even airbrushed in! It’s time to get
real! Find real role models who emanate the qualities you desire.
Educate yourself about what really goes on "behind the
scenes." And realize that no one naturally "glows"
the way those models in the magazines do!
Change your inner dialogue
It’s been said that we teach others how to treat us. If we believe
that, the message that comes across to others is that we are
not worth being liked, loved, or treated with respect. Most
of it comes from what we’re not even saying. Choose to believe
that you are worth taking care of and that you have the right
to be respected and treated with dignity – and act like it!
Take care of your body
Diets, pills, quick-fixes, binging,
not exercising, over-exercising, all these things disrespect
one of the greatest gifts you have been given – your body! You
only get one per lifetime, so give it the respect it deserves.
You will not only feel better, but you just might become someone
else’s role model!
