Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never break me?
Actually, they can.
You see, words trigger thoughts. Thoughts trigger emotions. Emotions prime the body to react. Priming stimulates a cascade of hormones. Hormones regularly flooding the system can create a toxic environment. And, toxic environments hurt.
Bet you didn’t see that coming.
The truth is that sometimes, we have absolutely no idea how much our words perpetuate body image issues and conversely how much changing them can fix all our problems.
If we dislike our looks, it’s only natural to want to try and figure out a way to change them. It could be an appearance adjustment, a slimmer body, or even glowing complexion. Whether it’s diet plans or medical treatments – these remedies promise to make us feel better about the bodies we live in.
But what if the solution here had more to do with changing how we perceive our bodies and less to do with actually changing them?
Body appreciation can be a difficult thing to cultivate. Especially if you’ve spent years nit-picking every inch of your appearance. However, starting with a few positive affirmations may be one of the simplest ways to transform your thoughts about your body.
(In case you're unfamiliar with what affirmations are, they're powerful statements that you make in an attempt to change your unconscious thought process and reasoning.)
Here are a few of my favourites:
- I respect my body.
- I feel that my body has at least some good qualities.
- I recognize that my body is good, regardless of how it looks.
- I am attentive to my body’s needs.
- I feel love for my body, as a whole.
- I appreciate the different and unique characteristics of my body.
- I feel like I am beautiful even if I am different from media images of celebrities.
When you can truly surrender to the reality that no diet, no food restrictions, and no exercise regimen will permanently change the way you speak to yourself, you are on your way to truly being kind to your body, treating it with dignity, and, yes, even appreciating your body.
Wouldn’t that be liberating?
If you’re struggling with the way you look and feel about your body, and are looking for a way out, our non-diet nutrition coaching program is just for you!
This may seem obvious, but here, we don't prescribe diets or hyper-focus on weight change. We know that food and body image issues run deep and that there is so much more to your health than the size of your jeans.
So, instead of focusing on external cues like calorie counting, food intake, and restrictive rules – we focus on behavior change, and internal cues like hunger and empower clients to trust their bodies to make the best decisions for themselves and find long-term healing.
Think of us like guide dogs. You know where you want to go, but we just help you navigate the obstacles along the way.