New mantra: soften

Lately when I've felt a little tense, the word "soften" has been coming to mind. I like it because it doesn't mean I have to fully release whatever it is I'm stressing over but if I can even soften just a little bit that takes the pressure off.

Coming back from a long vacation, my mind is swirling with all the things I'm excited to tackle over the next couple weeks. I'm ready to get back in the groove! But at times the mounting to-do list can feel a little overwhelming to keep track of, as I'm sure many of you can all relate to! The word "soften" brings me back to the present moment and remind me of what I have to be grateful for- like getting to shower in my own bathroom! Glorious!

I vow as I get back in the swing of things to remind myself to "soften, Katelyn, soften." After all, nothing on my to-do list is a life-or-death matter; it will all get done in time. Easter weekend means a big get-together with the fam, the weather in pittsburgh has been gorgeous, I had an amazing trip, and I'm excited to be home!!

So let's go a little easier on ourselves and soften a bit!!

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.

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