Love The Skin You're In
Originally featured on The Cause Bar
IN 2011 THE SUCCEED FOUNDATION…
…commissioned a body image survey and found that 30% of women say they would trade at least one year of their life to achieve their ideal weight and shape, and 46% of women have been ridiculed or bullied because of their appearance. A 2015 study done by Common Sense Media revealed that 80% of ten year old girls have been on a diet and that more than half of girls and one-third of boys ages six to eight want thinner bodies.
In a society that tends to promote unrealistic body ideals, it’s challenging to not get caught up in comparing oneself to these unrealistic standards. We tapped into Soshy Adelstein, coach and owner of Embody Nutrition, who teaches women from all over the world how to let go of old beliefs around dieting, eating, exercise and weight to instead, discover a more Intuitive approach to food and accepting your body exactly as it is.
I FIRST GOT INTO THIS WORK…
…because I started buying fashion magazines from the age of 15 and immediately got the message that my body didn’t look like those inside. As a teenager, I felt awkward and weird in my non-muscular, tiny framed, big boobed body. When I was 19, I got introduced to the Atkins diet, and within the first two weeks I lost a bunch of weight but what happened after that part was that I binged for the first time ever and gained all of the weight back and then some. Immediately, I felt guilt shame and self-deprecation and blamed the lack of willpower on myself. For the next six years, I struggled with huge amounts of weight gain/ weight loss, binge eating and just an all-around very restrictive mindset around food. During this time, I was in the middle of doing a nutrition program and knew everything there was to know about eating healthy -- but still, something was missing, until I was introduced to the world of Intuitive eating. The day I decided to quit dieting and accept my body as it was, without trying to change it, was the first day I was also able to heal my relationship with food. That was 8 years ago, and I haven’t had the same issues since! Within 5 months of the practice my Binge Eating was gone, and to this day I feel empowered near all foods and my body image is a million times better. It’s life changing when you realize that you don’t need to rely on a diet or strict rules around food to feel healthy. You can and should listen to your body, it has all of the answers for nutrition that you will ever need to know. Today, I teach women how to do that!
SOME OF MY FAVORITE TIPS…
…for loving your body and making peace with food:
Instead of letting today be the first day or your new diet, let yesterday be the last day you ever diet.
Do a media cleanse instead of a food cleanse! What are you reading, seeing, following, watching, and pinning? If it is wrapped up in restrictive eating plans, or before and after photos, ask yourself if that supports you practicing making peace around food and your body. Hint: if it lights you up, keep it! If it doesn’t, cleanse it!
Let go of guilt, shame and self-deprecation after eating food you believe are “bad” for you. Believe it or not, feeling this does not change any unwanted habits with food. It actually instigates them, and keeps us stuck in a negative cycle. If you eat something, enjoy every bite. Pleasure is good for your digestion.
Move your body in a way that brings you joy and feels like your attending a party with the best music in the world. You’ll find that you can actually sustain a consistent routine when you relate to exercise in a pleasurable way.
The body that you have right now is the only body that will ever matter. Even if you don’t love it, try to accept it, because this will help you feel better immediately.
ORGANIZATIONS I LOVE THAT SHARE MY MISSION…
Founded by Taryn Brumfitt in 2012, the Body Image Movement is on a mission to end the global body-hating epidemic by inspiring people to embrace their bodies through documentaries, books, online programs, speaking and educational resources. She filmed the documentary Embrace which is all about women and body image.
Health at Every Size is the new peace movement. It supports people of all sizes in addressing health directly by adopting healthy behaviors. It is an inclusive movement, recognizing that our social characteristics, such as our size, race, national origin, sexuality, gender, disability status, and other attributes, are assets, and acknowledges and challenges the structural and systemic forces that impinge on living well.
A non-diet approach to making peace with food.