Why hating your body is the worst thing for you

Posted on 22 June, 2016

“There is always a loser when you compare two things, and that loser is usually ourselves because we compare our ‘back-stage’ to someone else’s ‘highlight reel”

I don’t know about you, but sometimes, when I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing all those perfectly photographed bodies, sporting their six pack abs and rippling biceps, whilst holding their babies with perfectly manicured nails and hair…I feel inadequate.

On closer inspection of my stomach, I find loose, stretch marked skin (resembling that of an elephant’s scrotum), that’s not likely to sport a six pack, unless I paint it on. I pick at my nails, so they never look pretty and I often grab at my arms thinking: “Now that I’m in my 30s, are they starting to look a little wobbly?” I do my hair so infrequently that when I do, people say: “Wow, you look so pretty, what did you do?” Me: “I washed it.” Eeeek!

It’s silly really, comparing our close up, critical body inspection to a well-lit, possibly photo-shopped image of a woman who got captured at just the right angle for everything to look just right. The image, just a small moment captured in a picture for eternity gets judged against our lives, a continual balancing act of priorities, where some days you just can’t and don’t look like you’re holding yourself together. It’s not a fair comparison and for most women that I talk to each day, it does them more harm than good. Myself included.

I reckon, one of the best things you can do is watch people. Don’t watch them critically or from a “I wish that was me” perspective; but look at them from the perspective of diversity. Body diversity. When I stop being ‘judgy’ and just watch people I love the beautiful diversity of women that I see. I wrote a post about how this concept revolutionised the way I see myself, over on my blog.

They say that comparison is the thief of joy. There is always a loser when you compare two things, and that loser is usually ourselves because we compare our ‘back-stage’ to someone else’s ‘highlight reel’.

In my experience helping women with their nutrition, self-loathing and trying to eat well because you’re unhappy with your body doesn’t often lead to good results. If you don’t love and value yourself, how will you show up for training when you don’t feel like it? How will you prepare yourself a healthy meal at the end of a long, crazy day, if you don’t think you’re worth the effort?

Whilst you’re embarking on improving your health and fitness, include: embracing and accepting yourself as one of your goals. We’re not perfect, we never will be perfect and what is a perfect body anyway? It’s definitely not captured in a picture.

Here are some thoughts about body love and how it makes you a healthy eater

1. You prioritise healthy food. You don’t have to obsess over whether your diet is ‘clean’ enough but you focus on whole, nutrient dense foods as the main building blocks of your diet. Think vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, lean meats, eggs, dairy, legumes and whole grains.
2. You make healthy food choices because you want to, not because have to. Rules are there to be broken. When you’re accepting and loving your body you eat well because you choose to eat well, not because you’re just following the ‘rules’.
3. You don’t do restriction. Fill up of whole, fresh, nutrient rich foods that nourish your body. When you’re loving your body, no matter what, you don’t punish yourself with restriction, even if you’ve had a ‘bad’ day.
4. You stay consistent. When you’re embracing your body and where you’re at, you know that it’s consistency, not perfection, that will lead to the biggest results in your health and fitness. This means you eat well the whole week, even on the weekends!
5. You ditch the guilt and self-sabotaging. When you’re in a cycle of self-loathing we can get caught up in unhealthy habits. For example: You’re feeling stressed at work. You grab a fundraiser Freddo Frog. You eat all of it. You feel bad that you did. You think: “Stuff it!” You give up and eat poorly for the rest of the day. When you’re showing yourself a little grace and love, this is what happens: You’re feeling stressed at work. You grab a fundraiser Freddo Frog. You eat all of it. You move on. You eat well for the rest of the day. You understand that eating chocolate doesn’t make you a bad person.

In the end, you must remember that you are more than the number on the scales and the amount of fat that’s on your body. You are important and valuable. Treat yourself that way and watch how easily the healthy habits fall into place in your life!

If you’re over the dieting and self-hate, I’d love to work with you! Contact me and my team for simple, fresh, balanced, long term advice!