Do you own “beautiful”? Because you are. Absolutely beautiful. Go ahead, practice saying it out loud over and over. I dare you. Say I am beautiful. No matter what size. No matter what weight. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter what. If I believe that I am only beautiful once I reach a certain size or shape, I am destined to stay stuck. We will do anything to prove ourselves right. Let’s prove to ourselves instead that we’re drop dead gorgeous.
Do you own your progress? When someone tells you you’re looking stronger, leaner, toner, tighter do you say “thank you”? Or do you argue and say yeah but I have a long way to go you should see my thighs I hate my chin my stomach is still fat look at these arms these wrinkles this skin. Try “thank you”. Own your progress. Even if it is a small success, you did that! No one is holding your progress up to measure against perfection. No one expects that of you, except possibly you.
Do you own your meltdowns? I had a horrible week of eating. I had McDonald’s fries and an entire bag of candy. It was my choice. I can do the work to figure out why I ate compulsively, because I did that. I ate things I really didn’t want to. But the bottom line is I made the choice. No one forced me except my little ego telling me I needed some comfort or reward or sugar kick or treat or whatever.
Do you own your fears? I am afraid. I am afraid of trying something and failing. I am afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone. I am just as afraid of being stuck there. I am afraid of looking like an idiot. Don’t we all share this? Don’t we all battle fear? Let’s empower ourselves with the mighty truth and step out anyway. Do it afraid. It’s the only way to move forward.
Now that you’ve owned it, you can do it. Do your cardio! Get on the treadmill and get creative. Knock out some awesome intervals. Get outside and walk at one of the parks. Try Hip Hop or Zumba. Whatever your preference, doesn’t matter. Just get your heart rate into your Zone 2. Work up to an hour of cardio 4-5 days a week.
Now that you’ve owned it, you can do it. Lift! A minimum of two strength training sessions a week. Find a way to make it happen. If you don’t do it on your own, get help. Hire a trainer or take a class. Make it heavy, push yourself. Feel those muscles work and get stronger. Don’t skip this. It is your metabolism as well as your strength, endurance and balance. Not to mention the self esteem kick.
Now that you’ve owned it, you can do it. Eat cleaner! That means eat more chicken, fish and vegetables. It means less fried food, processed food, sugar, flour, alcohol and salt. That means changing. It means finding ways for your authentic self to show up and make the choices. It means healing compulsive eating and emotional eating and stress eating. It means confronting whatever keeps getting in the way of you making extraordinary choices.
Empowerment comes when we get really honest with ourselves and then make choices based on the truth. No more thinking about it, it’s time for action. Ready…GO!