Living the Healthy Life: Patience, Kindness, & Acceptance

It is important to remember, as you embark on any lifestyle change, that change does not happen over night. It sucks, but it is the truth. It takes patience and plenty of hard work. We must not only accept this reality, but we also need to be kind to ourselves in the process. This is especially important for us women since we are deluged on a regular basis with pictures of ultra thin perfect female bodies. Everywhere we look, we see these images in movies, clothing ads, magazines, and on TV.  It's enough to make any even average size woman cringe. As women, we tend to be very critical of our appearance because society tells us we are most certainly measured to some degree by how we look. It is something I hate, but it is also something we need to be aware of. Women need to give ourselves a break.  We need to realize that we are beautiful just the way we are. We need to realize that while Angelina Jolie and Cindy Crawford have beautiful bodies, we will never look like them because we are not them. And that's okay.

My fellow females, you are 'You-nique."  Enjoy it! Embrace it! Celebrate it! Life is too short to be a carbon copy of someone else, so why try?  So realize that while all we see around us in the media is super skinny bodies, realize that those women are not the norm. I never want to be a stick woman because women are meant to have curves. It's part of what makes us so special. So accept your mole on your nose, your midriff roll, your kinky, curly hair, and your big feet.  I'm not saying not to try to better yourself. I'm just saying don't hate yourself because you don't look the way you want to. Be kind to yourself, and do things that help to boost your confidence. Some things you can do are

~Tell yourself everyday how awesome you are.

~ If meditation is your thing, meditate on all of your good qualities and how great you are.

~Write post it notes for yourself. Fill them with positive self talk or inspiring quotes and put them on your mirror or on your calendar...anywhere where you will see them and can read them everyday.

~Spread the word!  We women need to stick together and as a community, boost each other up more often rather than tearing each other down. Read about Operation Beautiful. Caitlin has developed it as a way of "transforming the way you see yourself one post-it note at a time." It's a truly great movement. The book is available at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. Check it out.