Halloween is right around the corner. It’s the unofficial kick-off to the rest of the holiday season. I want you to spend the rest of this year living your life, not waiting for the weight. In this Irresistible You podcast episode, I’m addressing five scary myths about body image that are holding you back.
Let’s debunk these five scary myths about body image.
1. I Have to Hate My Body Because It’s Not Perfect
I spent so many years living by the rule that my happiness was directly related to having a perfect body. I put so many things on hold until I lost all the weight. I missed out on living because I was disillusioned that only skinny people get to be happy. No! Just because your body doesn’t fit into some ridiculous societal mold doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. I was worried what people might think if I dared to say I didn’t hate my body. You have permission to love your body and be happy, regardless of your weight.
2. I Have to Love Everything About My Body
Wait, what? Doesn’t this contradict the last myth? The truth is that nobody is going to love their body every single day. You also don’t have to love every single thing about your body. Just because you decide to create an irresistible life and work on your body image, that doesn’t mean every single day is going to be blissful.
3. I Can’t Love My Body & Want to Lose Weight
I’ve made a conscious effort to create my life and become irresistible you. It’s taken a lot of work but I’ve finally realized that life is too short to wait for the weight. I no longer keep my happiness hostage until I reach a certain number on the scale. It doesn’t mean I have to accept where I’m at either. There’s a lot of dangerous advice rolling around the body positive community about intentional weight loss. The hard core advocates believe that you cannot love your body while simultaneously pursuing weight loss. This is a myth. You can still love your body while working on improving it. In fact, the only way to successfully lose and keep off the weight is to do it from a place of love…not hate.
Read This: Body Positivity is a Personal Journey
4. Losing Weight Will Finally Make Me Happy
It’s not just about the weight. Yes, losing weight will help you to feel physically better. That’s just a fact. However, if you only focus on the weight, you’ll never be healed from the issues that got you overweight in the first place. The key to living an irresistible life is balancing your mind, body, and soul. It’s so important to be working on all of these areas while on a weight loss journey.
5. Why Bother? I’ll Never Change Anyways.
Learning to create an irresistible life and love yourself and your body is a journey. It will not happen overnight. For me, it’s still a daily struggle – some days easier than others. This is why I firmly disagree with the lie of magical before and after stories. It’s not like you wake up one day, and say, “I’m going to love my body and never binge eat again.” If only it was that easy. You can change but know it’s a journey and you have to give yourself some grace to go through the setbacks. You are not doomed to feel like this for the rest of your life. You have complete control over how you decide you want to live your life. Once you truly get that, it’s empowering and you’ll be unstoppable! When you expect the journey to be perfect, you set yourself up to fail. When you think it has to be perfect, you give up before you even try. It’s about taking small, consistent, imperfect action daily.
What scary myths about body image are you struggling with? Let’s discuss in the free Irresistible You Podcast Discussion Group on Facebook!
Listen To The Podcast Episode!
Head on over and listen to the Irresistible You podcast for this episode and more just like it. You can subscribe with iTunes, Stitcher, Google Music, or your fav podcast player. Search for Irresistible You. When you subscribe with a podcast app, you’ll get notified each time I publish a new episode.
You can also stream the episode and listen right here:
Join The Podcast Discussion Group
Are you a member yet? It’s free! Come on over to Facebook and join the discussion for the podcast. Leave a comment with which step you relate to the most.
Watch the Podcast on YouTube
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Join the #IrresistibleYou Movement
Use the hashtag #IrresistibleYou on Instagram and across social media to show how you are creating and living an irresistible life. Use the hashtag to search for others who are going through the same journey with us! Plus, I’ll be re-posting and sharing some of my fav photos and stories.
Let’s Stay Connected!
The best place to connect and chat with me is on Instagram and my Irresistible You Facebook Group. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.