We are all about living healthily and well, so here’s an important question you need to ask yourself right now: When was the last time you really felt good about yourself? Self-love is really underrated. We often pack our schedules to the brim with our work and social commitments, then squeezing in some time for exercise, and finally, whatever meagre time is left goes to really taking care of ourselves.
If we really understood the importance of loving ourselves and self-care, it would definitely be higher up on that priority list.
Whether it is loving yourself enough to set aside time to relax, pamper yourself at the spa, get some proper sleep, eat food that you’ve prepared yourself, read a book or just do something you love, you need to make time to do these NOW. Cos feeling good about yourself is the key to healthy weight loss.
1) Respect your body
This may sound counter-intuitive but you absolutely need to accept your body for what it is and NOT hate on it, if you want to be successful at weight loss. The important thing to remember is that if self-loathing is the reason for your weight-loss efforts, you’ll see all the things you do to lose weight in a negative light, as a punishment. Flipping your perspective around and seeing weight loss as a means to get healthier because you love your body and want the best for it will absolutely work wonders on your weight loss efforts. If you start from the position of self-love, you will naturally want to eat the healthiest food and exercise will make you feel great about yourself!
2) Don’t let criticism weigh you down
Without a doubt, none of us are perfect. Inevitably, we will receive criticism. Someone somewhere will always be better than us (or think they are, anyway). It is easy to wallow in hurt and self-pity when people tell us negative things about what we do. We naturally see it as a personal attack and it eats away at us. That, ladies, is the dangerous part. Allowing criticism to have that power over us is toxic. Don’t let the negativity fester within. Take the negativity in and BREATHE IT OUT. Don’t take it personally and you’ll feel much better about yourself. Take such words as a chance to improve yourself to be the best version of you!
3) Don’t beat yourself up
We can be our own harshest critics. When we do something wrong, we replay it over and over in our heads and keep kicking ourselves for making a mistake. Ease up on the guilt trip, ladies. Mistakes are part and parcel of life but it is how you deal with them that sets the successful people apart. Accept that you have made a mistake. Identify how you can make it right or make it up. Do it. Then, move on with your head held high. You are absolutely NOT a failure if you cave and eat that ice-cream after a stressful week at work or if you could not make any of your gym classes this week. Don’t hate on yourself, just do it right the next time you have a chance!
4) Make relaxing a priority
We often don’t prioritise relaxing cos let’s admit it, who has the luxury of time to really relax when time is so precious and there’s just so much to do? If you want to start feeling good about yourself and make a commitment to living a healthy life, then down-time for you to unwind and recharge must take its place as part of your schedule. Whether you like to bake, cook, read, meditate or head for a massage, make time for such activities. You’ll be a less harsh on yourself and a whole lot kinder to yourself.
5) Accept and love yourself from the inside out
And we mean everything about yourself. Your body, your personality, your strengths and weaknesses, your thoughts, your emotions. Love yourself enough to want to be the best version of you that you can be. Live healthily because you love yourself and want the best for you. When you love yourself and feel good about who you are, good things happen. You are confident, motivated, driven, happy. Exercise becomes something you do because it makes you feel good and strong. Eating a balanced diet becomes something you do because you want to fuel your body properly. Taken in this perspective, weight loss will be a happy result of your choices – not something you aspire for because you hate the way you look. Wellness from within is the way to go!