1
Your weight matters: Believing this slams shackles on people. It is a joy thief. Believing this is what led me to bulimia during my freshman year of college. We live in a culture that tells us fixing our weight fixes everything. SPOILER ALERT: You will never be skinny enough. Your body image issues can only be fixed now, at your present weight. Sure eating healthy and exercising will help you feel better about yourself- but forget about that number. It can fluctuate when you lift weights, or travel, or have extra sodium, or even if it’s cloudy. That number seems to hypnotize us into forgetting all the wonderful things our body does like keep us alive, grow, think, and so much more. I say let that number go. Throw out the f***ing scale.
2
Tomatoes are delish: I am pretty sure the first tomato was grown in hell by the devil himself. Ok, ok that may be extreme and I am likely in the minority. There are so many reasons tomatoes are healthy. For example, did you know they are packed with the antioxidant lycopene which basically acts as an internal sunscreen protecting your skin from sun damage? I so wish I liked them… but I don’t… so I don’t eat them. We all have food preferences and those preferences are worthy of being honored. Don’t eat anything I post, no matter how healthy it may appear, if the ingredients makes you gag.
3
I rock at pushups: There is something about pushups that triggers my need for self-justification as inadequacy overtakes me. Every time I attempt a pushup, and fail, I want to stand up and announce to everyone in the room that while I cannot do this I did have two babies without an epidural. It’s like a cruel joke nature plays- we women have such a gnarly pain tolerance yet we can’t do this simple movement of pushing our body off the ground in a parallel fashion. WTF. Coming to accept my body and its capabilities is a journey that I continue to battle every day. I imagine it will never change. For us women there is body image, then pregnancy changes, then post-pregnancy body, then aging. Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies. WOW. I know that more than 91% of the women I hang out with are knock out beautiful so to me this statistic tells me the problem isn’t actually our bodies, its our minds.
4
No, thank you I don’t eat cake: Or ice cream, or cookies, or candy, or fried food or gluten or dairy or beer for that matter! I actually eat it all and on a daily basis. I vehemently believe that deprivation leads to restriction and regret. And whatever happens on our plate seems to seep into the rest of our lives. Have you ever met a person on a low carb diet that isn’t cranky? (Sorry, not sorry.) Studies show that up to 95% of diets result in rebound weight gain. This one is a no brainer. We are happier when we offer ourselves permission, balanced with intention.
5
I can’t do that: I don’t believe in those words. I believe in choice. Sometimes I choose not to do things and that’s ok. I own that. Taking extreme ownership of our lives means we have to make a daily choice to engage in life. To show up. To take care of ourselves so we can take care of others. Taking care of your health may mean choosing to have salad instead of chicken nuggets or choosing to hit the gym instead of sleeping that extra hour. It may mean choosing to put on sweat pants during those PMS days instead of judging your body. We always, always have a choice. Except when it comes to pushups- I can’t do those.
Want to follow me for more tips on fueling a life you love? Connect with me on Instagram @jessbrownrd.