Learning That Love Is Stronger Than Food

by Lisa
(Hampton, VA)

This is how I healed my negative body image and learned to love myself for who I am, rather than define myself by what society wants my self image to be.

Advice on losing weight was everywhere. My friends, my family, coworkers, online forums, and television advertisements all were suggesting ways to drop pounds fast. There are fad diets, workout plans, pills and supplements galore. I've tried it all, and I had developed a very unhealthy relationship with food. The best advice I've ever been given was to stop trying so hard to eliminate part of myself and learn to love myself exactly as I am in any given moment.

I stopped dieting, and I stopped exercising at first. I worked on one small habit every other week, using two weeks to cement it and add it to my growing list of healthy habits. The more I practiced the new ways of thinking I was learning, the less the method and structure mattered. The emotions were more important and better determined how well I would treat my body with food.

It’s important to be just as compassionate and loving with yourself as you would be with any friend or family member who came to you upset because of weight issues. It’s very easy to treat yourself bad and talk to yourself with negative words and thoughts. It’s critical to love yourself and balance weight loss efforts with self-love exercises.

Negative self-talk will creep up when you are angry at not seeing the number on the scale drop. Resist this negativity by countering it with a positive, compassionate thought. Do not accept the negative self-talk as fact, because you are changing every second, and no one mistake can define you. Constant self-love and patience while you build small habits, one at a time, is the most efficient way to stop viewing your body or food as an enemy and be able to open up to fully enjoy life!