7 Day Self-love Challenge!

Hi, everyone! In honor of Valentine’s day, I’m hosting a free 7 Day Self-Love Challenge on Facebook! It starts on February 13th, so if you’re interested in joining in, contact me through my Beachbody page (http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk) or my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk). We run fun groups like this every month! They are free and everyone is welcome!

If you don’t have Facebook or are catching this at a later date, you can still get all of the good tips and challenges for how to love yourself a little bit more in each of the videos below!

Day 1: The Challenge

https://youtu.be/d3vXL6dd9q4

Day 2: Awareness

https://youtu.be/5P2qiS3CnVA

Day 3: Self-love for the body

https://youtu.be/KPHhZebhpSA

The blog posts I referenced in the Day 3 video:

Love yourself to where you want to be:

http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2015/09/love-yourself-to-where-you-want-to-be.html

A follow-up about self-love and weight loss: http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-follow-up-about-self-love-and-weight.html

Day 4: Win list

https://youtu.be/P2CHY1CgQII

Day 5: Choosing self love

https://youtu.be/ptMdjuUAwVA

Day 6: Focus on others

https://youtu.be/ybFEjE0Cf6U

Day 7: Beyond the challenge

https://youtu.be/6449Wd-J61A

I hope you enjoyed this challenge! Sending lots of love your way!

Katelyn

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info or to contact me about future groups!

I would be honored to help you with your fitness journey :)  Here is a link to sign up for a free account with me as your coach: https://www.teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/free?referringRepId=183908. Or you can go to www.teambeachbody.com, sign up for a free account, and enter any of my info in when it asks if a coach referred you: screen name: KatelynLesk, coach ID: 183908

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Happy Heart, Healthy Life!

Today I was listening to a youtube video that Nikki Phillippi posted of her interview with Katrina and Karena from Tone It Up on what makes a healthy lifestyle. Katrina said she believes it starts with a healthy heart: healthy relationships, healthy friendships, great happiness, and taking care of your body.

I couldn’t agree more!

Any time I get caught up in self-doubt or worry that I’m not where I should be in any area of my life, it’s almost always because I’m putting the focus on ME, not on what service I can be to others.

I immediately feel better when I think of how I can make someone else’s day better; or appreciate the wonderful, supportive, uplifting people around me; or stop to notice all the GOOD in this world!

The comparison game never makes anyone feel better. Take the focus off of you and how you “measure up” and start putting the focus on helping others!

Surround yourself with people who make you feel good and lift you UP! If your friends don’t think or act that way, find new friends!! If we lived to be 1000 years old, life would still be too short to waste it on any petty drama.

Find the people who purely embody love and kindness. Start by being that type of person yourself!

Don’t you feel happier and healthier already? :)

Sending love your way, friends!

I would be honored to help you with your fitness journey :)  Here is a link to sign up for a free account with me as your coach: https://www.teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/free?referringRepId=183908. Or you can go to www.teambeachbody.com, sign up for a free account, and enter any of my info in when it asks if a coach referred you: screen name: KatelynLesk, coach ID: 183908

You can contact me or find out more information using:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk

Beachbody page: http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk

Or my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/kate37721

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Personal growth books to deal with the world and its uncertainty

I often get asked about my favorite personal growth books and how I stay so positive. They go hand in hand. Forcing positivity without true inner peace is temporary. I believe that any sustaining joy and peace comes from a true knowing of your beliefs. And the easiest way to figure that out is to open your mind to other perspectives, to learn what is out there, and to feel what resonates with you as truth. YOU get to decide.

It's nearly impossible for me to pick a favorite personal growth book or tool that has done this for me because SO MANY books, authors, conferences, speakers, youtube videos, podcasts, etc have helped me SEE more and have positively impacted my life. It has also come from my own vigilant application of these concepts, prayer, meditation, and a practice of compassion and self-love. Not once in a while. All day, every day.

I've pulled out my favorite books that were each turning points in my life when I read them. While there are many others, these are the ones that I am constantly coming back to. These books are completely devoid of judgment and teach only love.

"Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsh taught me that there is no good or bad; there is only the meaning we bring to each experience/circumstance.

"Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao" by Dr. Wayne Dyer taught me to learn through the powerful examples of nature to allow, to be one, to be flexible, and to live without attachment.

"A Course In Miracles." If you're familiar with it, you know it's a life-long process of untraining ourselves from our conditioned thought patterns of illusion, ALWAYS choosing love over fear. No exceptions. "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God." -ACIM

"A Man's Search for Meaning," written by psychiatrist Viktor Frankl about his experiences in the Holocaust taught me I can ALWAYS choose my attitude no matter what the circumstances.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. Regardless of politics, external circumstances, or anything else that we may feel is affecting our lives, we should always be striving for our own personal growth. External circumstances are always changing. We develop a kinder, more peaceful, more joy-filled world by first cultivating that within ourselves. We ARE love. Peace already exists. And we can tap into joy anytime we want. It only takes remembering that it is all already there. 

Love you all,
Katelyn

Why it’s so important to me to make sure nobody ever feels alone in this life: Part 1

It has always been extremely important to me for others to not feel alone in whatever struggle they are going through in life. I find deep connection in the vulnerability that comes with sharing struggles with each other. I have become even more conscious of that in the past 4 or so years, both in struggles that I’ve had personally and experiencing first-hand the incredibly impactful and supportive effects of having someone reach out a hand to me and show me that I’m not alone and in having others come to me as a coach (I’ve been an online health and fitness coach for the past 3.5 years) and confide in me about what they are going through- I can’t even begin to describe the amazing feeling I get when I can share something with them I’ve struggled with and we BOTH shift into a better place knowing we are more similar than we realized. I am also very cognizant of the role that social media plays in this platform. I take my job as a coach very seriously and it is important to me to do my best to not just share my triumphs but my struggles too.

Because I struggle too.

When it comes to my coaching, I try to show my clients that I rely as much on them as they do on me! My workout routine isn’t always perfect. I fall off the wagon. My healthy eating sometimes gets side-lined by trying to balance social activities that include frequent meals at restaurants. It has taken me years to realize that there may not be such a thing as “finding a balance” but rather I can be ok with accepting the ebbs and flows and doing my best to course-correct as I go. Life gets in the way of this all the time for me. And that’s OK.

I struggle in relationships. It’s the area of my life where I have the most trouble believing that what I desire is possible. I have baggage in the form of limiting beliefs based on past experiences. I have a fear of being left. On the one hand, I am at a point in my life to have the confidence to know that I am fine either way. I love my life on my own. I’ll be good no matter what happens. But when I care about someone, I care very deeply and with that comes the worry of it somehow being pulled away. I have a natural resistance to that feeling of disconnecting from someone else’s energy. I care about all people. I have compassion for whatever someone is going through that is driving their behaviors and their goals/priorities in life. I know that doesn’t always align between two people and that is ok. I can have love for a person even if a relationship doesn’t continue and I know I’ll be ok on the other side. But my heart naturally still wants to show that person I love and that pull-away can be very challenging for me.

I struggle with anxiety. I have anxiety over traveling, over being overwhelmed, over being out of routine and my good “flow”, and sometimes I have anxiety for no real reason at all. It often manifests physically in a disorder that I struggle with (http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2015/02/by-far-scariest-post-i-have-ever-written.html). I often have vivid, stressful dreams and I get frustrated waking up feeling like I’m already behind in dealing with the day. I worry about little things that don’t seem to bother most people- typically those things revolve around the worry of not feeling well if I’m on a trip or out somewhere. It’s not a big worry, just a nuisance that I resist. I have digestive problems and I know my stress plays off of that and vice versa. It’s a cycle that I struggle to control and release and surrender. My default is to try to control and I’m still learning to trust in the surrender. I’m getting better. I’ve learned to become friends with my anxiety. I like what it teaches me. I’m proud of the coping mechanisms I’ve learned because of having to deal with it.

When I am in the grip of any of these things, it is hard to stay grounded and at peace. What helps me is the knowledge that I KNOW when coming into this life if God would have asked me, “Do you want the easy way or do you want the hard way that is going to grow your soul more than you ever thought possible?” I know I would have responded with, “Bring on the hard way!!” I would rather be pulled through the fire than go through the motions of life asleep. Any time in my past where I’ve really struggled with anxiety, heartbreak, or finding purpose in life have also been the times that I have grown the most. Struggle challenges me to increase my faith and spiritual connection. I love how I can share what I’ve learned with others, especially the people I coach who are so WILLING to be open with me and share what they are going through. I admire people SO MUCH who are willing to be open and willing to grow. We are all in this together. It is a learning and growth experience for all of us. Every single person on this planet has immense value to offer but we have to be WILLING to let our walls down, to share our truth, to be vulnerable, and to trust. THAT is how we discover the oneness- step by step, each moment of vulnerability, seeing that we are more alike than different.

In part 2 of this post (http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2016/05/why-its-so-important-to-me-to-make-sure_3.html) I will be sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned from the people who were willing to reach out a hand when I was struggling and show me that I was not alone. I am eternally grateful for their support and I want to pass their lessons along.

And my biggest message of this is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Whatever it is you are going through, I am here, walking beside you, and rooting you on in this beautiful, crazy, painful, incredible, challenging, enlightening journey of life. Together we can remember that it is ALL for our greatest good (what we label the good and the bad). Though the growth and expansion can feel hard, we can make it ok TOGETHER. Our challenges may look vastly different on the surface but the EMOTIONS are the same. We are all seeking love and understanding. We all struggle at times to feel good enough or to believe that things are ever going to work out. Struggle is struggle. It is all relative. There is no need to downplay the tough emotions that come from even what we consider small situations in life. You never know what is going to feel hard until you’re in it.

So please know that I am virtually sending you all love, lots of big hugs, and stretching out a hand for you to hold in your hardest times. Love and compassion are what it’s all about. You are not alone. And you will never be alone.

I post frequently about my struggles here on my blog as well as my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/kate37721 (specifically under “positivity project, tips for personal growth”). I also have more info about what has helped me along the way in my fear-releasing workshop, which can be found here on my blog http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2015/11/fear-releasing-workshop-and-lantern.html or on my youtube under the “workshops” section. Feel free to connect with me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk!

I would be honored to help you with your fitness journey :)  Here is a link to sign up for a free account with me as your coach: https://www.teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/free?referringRepId=183908. Or you can go to www.teambeachbody.com, sign up for a free account, and enter any of my info in when it asks if a coach referred you: screen name: KatelynLesk, coach ID: 183908

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

REAL TALK about loving ourselves and weight fluctuations.

REAL TALK.

As a follow-up to my recent post about loving ourselves and quitting the negative self talk (if you missed it, you can find it here: http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/self-inflicted-body-shaming-and-losing.html), I realize that the picture I used might not have been the best to exemplify my point. I wrote that blog post late at night and quickly pulled a workout picture from my phone to use for the quote. While it was a recent picture, it was also taken at a very flattering angle on one of those days where for the first time in a while, my digestive system was not acting up, I was not feeling bloated, and in general I just happened to be feeling great that day. I can assure you that it doesn't exactly reflect my current fitness level! My weight can fluctuate a lot even within a few days. I questioned using this flattering workout picture at the time for fear it would defeat the purpose of the message and after being teased about the contradiction of it by a very good friend, I decided I REALLY needed to set the record straight :)

So here is a more accurate picture, taken less than a week apart - this is what I was talking about in the post about my jeans fitting snugly. I am not in my best shape right now (I've been eating out frequently and the busyness of the past month has caused a few slips in my workout routine as well) but I REFUSE to love myself or my body any less :)

I stand by my original point in the blog:

"In the big scheme of all the problems in the world, having pants that fit a little tightly is an incredibly privileged problem to have. We have clothes, we have seemingly unlimited access to food, we have money to buy pants, and even that picture of yourself that you criticized was taken by a phone or camera that a large population of the world will never even be lucky enough to own."

Who else is committed to loving themselves a little bit more each day??

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

I would be honored to help you with your fitness journey :)  Here is a link to sign up for a free account with me as your coach: https://www.teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/free?referringRepId=183908. Or you can go to www.teambeachbody.com, sign up for a free account, and enter any of my info in when it asks if a coach referred you: screen name: KatelynLesk, coach ID: 183908

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

What’s a “beach body”?

While I LOVE working for Beachbody, the term “beachbody” is such a small portion of what we actually do. We help people CREATE bodies that they feel good in everyDAY! These are feel-good-in-your-jeans bodies, jumping-into-the-center-of-the-dance-floor bodies, confident-at-the-work-meeting bodies, stronger-healthier-energized bodies, loving-and-embracing yourself bodies, chase-after-your-kids bodies, and empowered-while-walking-down-the-street bodies!! And a HUGE part of that goes WAY BEYOND physical appearance!! What I love most about what we do is that we work together as a TEAM! My clients inspire ME as much (if not more!) as I inspire THEM! We create the habits and motivations to KNOW that even though life gets in the way sometimes (as it always inevitably does!) that we can get back on track and we can do it TOGETHER and have FUN while doing it! This is not about being perfect; these are healthy LIFESTYLE changes. And that INCLUDES dealing with things that may be stressing us out or keeping us stuck. We work through our fears and blocks together and take slow and steady steps towards improving our whole lives! And WITH THAT comes the confidence, the empowerment, and the belief to know that we can do ANYTHING! Feeling great at the beach is an awesome bonus, but it’s the rest of this that creates and incredible LIFE!!!!!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/CoachKatelynLesk and http://beachbodycoach.com/katelynlesk for more info!

I would be honored to help you with your fitness journey :)  Here is a link to sign up for a free account with me as your coach: https://www.teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/free?referringRepId=183908. Or you can go to www.teambeachbody.com, sign up for a free account, and enter any of my info in when it asks if a coach referred you: screen name: KatelynLesk, coach ID: 183908

Disclaimer Copy: Katelyn Lesk is an Independent Beachbody Coach.

Embracing anxiety out of a desire to FEEL

I woke up this morning with a surprisingly high level of anxiety with no apparent cause. I've had my fair share of stressors lately, as we all do, but nothing abnormally out of the blue. There's a lot of things I could try to blame this on or try to work through in an effort to "rid" myself of it. I tried to just sit with it and let it pass, which I like doing, but I was having trouble shutting my brain off so as not to attach meaning to it (which of course keeps it stuck there). But then I came to the realization that I always eventually do... the one that is always able to bring me some peace no matter what I'm feeling. I CHOOSE to feel. I WANT to feel. I want to feel life in all it's "good" and "bad" glory. I'll take pain and sadness if I know it means it also brings me love, bliss, and joy. I KNOW how much I learn and expand in those emotions that we deem "bad" or "negative". I APPRECIATE sadness knowing that I allowed myself to really care about something or someone. I APPRECIATE anxiety for it teaches me to course-correct to paths that are more aligned with my truth and needs and it teaches me to build my faith so as to be able to feel peace. I APPRECIATE any negative emotions that allow the good ones to feel even better. I will ALWAYS be someone who wants to feel. I know I would have picked this coming into this life. I have never wanted to go through life numb... I want to feel ALIVE! I want to experience life and emotions in all of their forms! I want to know fear, sadness, and pain so I can know love, bliss, and excitement! I believe THAT's what we're here for- to FEEL! To experience! That doesn't mean there's a right or wrong way to this life, but it does mean that I ACCEPT MYSELF as I am. I believe that joy, bliss, excitement, and love can only be felt FULLY when our walls are completely obliterated! I am WILLING to lovingly feel fear, anxiety, anger, jealousy, sadness, pain, or anything else that wants to come up because I REFUSE to have walls up to ANYTHING! And I am learning to believe that ALL of these feelings have their own raw beauty to them. There is love and joy that can be found in all of them. A humanness. I believe suffering happens when we are in resistance to those feelings, or at least that is what my experience has taught me. I now find excitement when these emotions come up- the ones I used to resist- because I know it means I am learning, growing, releasing, or expanding in some way that leads to more good in my life and experience. As for the walls, I will have none. I am just me. And I am completely, totally, inspiringly ok with that. MORE than ok with that. I am in love with that. Bring it on!! I am ready for you, life, in all your glory and experience! I love life and I am willing to love it all!!!

This picture is from a calendar that my incredible friend, Alisa, made for me. The quote seemed especially appropriate and empowering today :)

Your inherent worth unrelated to the number on the scale or your reflection in the mirror!

I care far less about the number on the scale than I do about how you FEEL about yourself. I want you to love yourself so radically that you see only the beauty of your inherent perfection when you look in the mirror. I care about what you eat ONLY because I know that good-feeling thoughts come from physically feeling good, from nourishing our bodies, from health and vitality and ENERGY! I want you to feel so good about who you are that it transcends any self-doubt that used to be produced by a number on the scale or the way your clothes fit. **I want you to look in the mirror and EFFORTLESSLY cherish the person staring back at you.** Your worth will NEVER be defined by any trite physical attribute. There is so much of a bigger picture than that!!!! Do you know who you are?? Do you know that you MATTER to the world?? Do you know that you are wholly loveable right here, right now?? Start NOTICING the things about you that are so special! Start NOTICING what you like about yourself! Start NOTICING the good you are doing in the world, the way you make other people feel when they are around you, and the further ways you can let your light and love shine! When you really FEEL that, through and through, to the very core of your being, it will just stop MATTERING to you what anyone else may think. You will naturally begin to attract into your life people who know their worth and see yours. True soul connections. Awareness. Belief in yourself and the greater good. The little things that used to plague your inner dialogue begin to fade away. And in that, you give others PERMISSION to do the same!! You empower those around you. EVERYONE begins to feel relief, to feel better about themselves, and to realize their inherent worth!!

No makeup, just a hoodie, nothing fancy- still worthy!
Love and light to all of you!!

What comes with that is NATURALLY feeling better physically, more health, more vitality, FEELING the life force pulsing through your veins with every heartbeat!! How can the small day-to-day worries about a few pounds or your most recent meal or your jeans EVER compare to that?? I know those thoughts come up! You are not wrong or bad for thinking them! I just ask that you REMIND yourself of the bigger picture!! Because in the bigger picture, you ALWAYS matter, and you are ALWAYS good enough, and you are ALWAYS pure love!! Get to that place and share that love with others!!! And feel good along the way KNOWING that you matter!! You make a difference!!! You are INCREDIBLE!!!!

Gratitude for the tough stuff

There is always room for improvement, but I have to say I am proud of the point I’m at in my own growth. Instead of being impulsive and reactionary in tough situations, I can handle them with peace and grace. I mean this relatively because I am far from perfect in this regard, but I can FEEL my own progress. And that feels good :)

One practice that has helped me develop this and keep the big picture in mind when handling, processing, or reacting to any tough/sad/disappointing/frustrating situation is to be grateful for the tough stuff that comes along. It instantly pulls me out of fear and reminds me that these labels (“tough,” “sad,” “disappointing,” “frustrating,” “bad,” etc) are only the meaning I’m giving to it by thinking the situation *should* have unfolded in a different way. When I can pull myself out of the emotion of it and into observer mode through this gratitude practice, I am able to remember that EVERYTHING is happening for my greater good and expansion. If it’s happening, it’s because on a soul level, I needed it to happen.

While it is often initially difficult to utter the words, “Thank you for [insert difficult situation/person/outcome],” the resistance seems to fade almost immediately once the full thought is expressed and given a voice and it is replaced with a peace and awareness and understanding and calmness once the bigger picture is allowed to come into sight. I sometimes can even start to feel the tingly excitement of my energy and vibration raising as I do this. I urge you to give it a try too!!

Here is a video where I explain more. I also included some pictures below of the lake I was at when I recorded this. They instantly make me feel peaceful :)

Having gratitude for the tough stuff

Pictures from the lake- enjoy!

A follow-up about self-love and weight loss

As a follow-up to my post the other day about loving yourself to where you want to be rather than guilting/shaming/self-hating your way there (full post here: http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2015/09/love-yourself-to-where-you-want-to-be.html), I wanted to add some additional questions/ideas that will hopefully provoke some good thoughts and allow you to solidify for yourself why it is so important to try to be a little more self-loving. A HUGE thank you goes out to my friend, Evonne. A lot of these points came from an awesome conversation with her and I want to give her due credit.

She pointed out how often we link happiness to the weight we were at during a certain great period of life while completely neglecting that there were probably a whole bunch of other reasons that were much more the ACTUAL cause of our happiness! Wow, what a great point. There have been times when I was at the lower end of my normal weight range but my relationships, career, faith, etc were not aligned and I was completely miserable (another fantastic Evonne-ism, “Standing alone and thin is no fun”). Then there were other times when I was on the upper end of my weight range but life was stellar and I was living up every moment of it (see picture)! True freedom is learning how to love yourself and appreciate life and enjoy what you’ve got no matter what the external circumstances are!!

As Evonne so brilliantly put it, “I didn’t get thin and get happy, it was the other way around.” How true is that?? Often times they go hand in hand. As we eat better, the healthier food improves our mood (I also now NOTICEABLY recognize not-so-healthy food negatively effecting my mood). As we workout more, we feel stronger, we feel more vitality, and the endorphins boost our mood as well. We also typically feel more in alignment of what we WANT for our lives. But there are also other ways to lose weight in the short-term that don’t necessarily involve these healthy methods and certainly don’t produce these feel-good effects. More often than not, as we FEEL GOOD about ourselves, LOVE ourselves as I spoke of the other day, and find appreciation for what we have in the here and now, that is NATURALLY going to translate to our physical appearance. Think of the GLOW that radiates from someone who is really excited about life! In those states of flow, it is much easier for those healthier habits to fall into place rather than being stressed, frustrated with life, and putting pressure on ourselves to lose 5 pounds because we are unhappy with our lives and we think that will make us feel better. Truth is, it might. Temporarily. But it’s not going to fix the bigger issues that can ONLY come with a lot of internal work on ourselves and on our outlook on life. What we resist, persists. And whether that be resisting self-acceptance and self-love because we are 10 pounds heavier than where we want to be or resisting doing the TRUE work that we know we need to do on ourselves (internally- mentally, emotionally, spiritual), those circumstances will persist on. It’s only when we enter a state of acceptance do we release the blocks and pressure that have been holding us back and enter into a state of allowance. EVERYTHING happens more easily there because it happens from a place of love. It is the changes we make on the INSIDE that show up in our external world.

Finally, I would like to offer you a chance to take the next couple minutes to pause and meditate on how it would really FEEL to not care about your weight. Some of you may think that you would let yourself eat whatever you want and end up gaining weight. Well, that would be based on the assumption that it is only your pressure, guilt, and shame that will help you lose the weight you desire. I beg to differ. I have seen countless people attack weight loss with such pressure and rigidity that they end up quitting altogether. I have also seen people take the slow and steady route, allow themselves indulgences along the way, and still get to where they wanted to be. Think of how you would feel if the pressure was finally off. If you weren’t worried about how people would judge you. If you could solely base your decisions on your own happiness and love for yourself. Where would that lead you? ** Picture the difference in the energy if I locked you in room with a canvas, some paints, and a Da Vinci painting and told you that you had to recreate it PERFECTLY to the exact specifications. Now picture walking through a garden on a beautiful day and stumbling upon a blank canvas, a glorious selection of colorful paints, a variety of intriguing brushes, and flowers all around you for inspiration. Which situation do you think would create the better work? Take the pressure off. You are still YOU even without the weight pressure. You will still WANT to do what’s healthy for yourself… probably more so without the pressure of the results and instead a focus on what feels good and what is most loving for yourself. Sometimes that may be the salad, sometimes that may be a delicious cup of ice cream (which I promise will be way more satisfying when it isn’t followed by guilt and regret). It doesn’t matter. Live with love and let your heart guide you to your best. **Create a masterpiece today**


More about making peace with our selves, our lives, and each area of it: http://katelynlesk.blogspot.com/2015/09/world-peace-day-make-peace-with.html

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