LOVE YOURSELF to where you want to be!!!

I’ve got an IMPORTANT message- this has been coming up A LOT lately.

**I cannot stress enough how important it is to LOVE yourself to where you want to be rather than self-hating/shaming/guilting yourself to where you want to be!** I can PROMISE you that the added stress and pressure and negative emotions that the latter thought process causes is counterproductive to your health and happiness. Loving yourself right where you are does not mean you are throwing in the towel on the healthy changes you want to make- what it DOES mean is that you constantly shower yourself with love and acceptance while still evaluating how you can be kinder to yourself and create healthier habits. The THOUGHT PROCESS must be healthy too in order for it to show up in the physical form! And isn’t it wonderful to know that there’s someone that will ALWAYS be there for you and ALWAYS have your back 100% and will ALWAYS love and accept you know matter what?? Yep, and that person is YOU!! While it’s WONDERFUL to have a loving support system, it is also IMPERATIVE to work on loving and accepting yourself exactly the way you are, right now, at this very minute. Take a moment to APPRECIATE all that your body is doing for you! No matter what you do to it or what you put into it, it is digesting, breathing, keeping your heart beating, moving your eyeballs right now as you read this, and YES, your body is your biggest cheerleader!! LOVE IT BACK!!

Admittedly, this has not been my best summer for healthy habits. Between my birthday, several trips, and normal summer busyness, I’ve indulged quite a bit. But just because I’m working towards getting stronger, improving my endurance, and feeling more health and vitality, does not mean I can’t appreciate this awesome life and self I have right in the here and now!! If you’re struggling with this, think of someone less fortunate than you in their health or life circumstances that would give anything to be where you are. If that helps, start by appreciating your self and your life and your body for them first THEN slowly, over time, move into loving you for your own sake!!

If you base your self-love on how you look or a number on the scale, then your happiness at any given point in time will always be dependent on whether you are or are not at that point. So make the decision NOW that you will love yourself and have your back no matter what!!! It is truly as simple as that… just DECIDE!!! Throw out your cares of what anyone else might think (because anyone who does not love you unconditionally is not worth it anyway!) and know that no matter what, YOU have your back!! YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!!

I did a follow-up to this post that can be found here: http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-follow-up-about-self-love-and-weight.html