New Year – More Self-Love

 

Thanks god, we made it all through 2018. For me and most of the many clients I have worked with last year 2018 turned out to be quite challenging. On so many levels. Challenging is good (especially in hindsight) because it makes us grow. But challenging is also hard. So, I would lie if I said I was not excited about making a new start. 2019. Sounds and looks so promising. And already has so much lightness, fun, happiness and success written all over. I literally cannot wait to fill every single of its 365 days with new magic and awesomeness and I hope you are just as excited as I am. If you are in this for your glowing win – to be the best version of your vibrant, healthy-licious self – then let’s make 2019 all about self-love. Fact is if you are looking to transform your health, fitness or happy-licious life in any form, then the base of such change must be LOVE to be successful.

Here are 5 simple action steps how to throw more self-love into everything you do and as welcome side effect turn your opportunities into bright realities.

 

  1. Change your thinking around exercise and movement

Embrace physical activity in your life as a wonder-licious privilege instead of viewing it as an annoying chore you have to do to reach your goal. It’s not. And very likely will not get you anywhere -certainly not to your dreams. Definitely not if the place you are coming from is not one of self-nurture and love. Remind yourself how precious your body is.  Remind yourself how lucky you are that it is fully functional. That it carries out so many different tasks for you constantly. Without asking! Without any conditions tied to it performing always at its best! For YOU. Your body has your back all the time! Can you truly say the same thing about yourself? Do you have your body’s back all the time? Well, maybe this is exactly your missing link to make your story a wonderful success. It’s time you returned some of the love by nurturing this same glorious body with more movement, more strength, more stretching. Not because you should but because you CAN. Not because you are not enough already but because it will make room for more than you ever thought or knew possible. Within and outside of you. Because it will make you feel insanely wonderful. Because it will bring the best out in you. 2019 is calling you. Choose you kind of movement that makes YOU happy and do so as an act of self-compassion!!!!

 

  1. Alter your mindset around food and healthy eating.

Are you still caught up in old ways of thinking? Where you think of food in terms of calories. In terms of the good-clean-angel-stay-thin-eat and the evil food – the one that gives you devil stares until you eat it and then turns you into a self-loathing monster? Have we, as a society, totally and utterly lost it? How can our major drive to eat something (or not) be about how much kilojoules that particular bite or drink holds? How can we think of it in terms of good or bad? Food is just food. Right? It’s fuel for our bodies. And yes, there is food that nurtures us. That beautifies us. That is full of health-boosting nutrients. Of age-defying antioxidants and other phytonutrients. Foods that uplift our spirits and protects our organs. And yes, there are eats that are void of such nourishing qualities. That instead spike our blood sugar. That drive us to overeat. That make our blood pressure rise. That hurt our gut or clogs our arteries. That make us feel more anxious, depressed or stressed. That is: if we eat too much of such foods. But neither one of the two turns you (or myself or anyone else) into a good or bad person. It’s simply upon us to decide whether we want to nourish our bodies, minds and souls with meals that bring the best out in us – or not. There are plenty of reasons to eat what we eat. This year however, I invite you to let your decision be driven by self-compassion. By love for your gorgeous self. By self-nurture. And just for the records: such kind ways of nourishing your precious self, may very well include 20 percent of those foods that are empty of health-boosting nutrients. If this combo brings the best out in you, by all means enjoy totally guilt-free eats you love but know are not necessarily smothering your physical self with love. Your body can deal with it if you are giving it the food-love it deserves for the other eighty per cent of the devouring YOU.

 

  1. Shift your attitude towards weight-loss.

What if I told you that weight loss alone is not necessarily linked to amazing health benefits and insane beauty? And I am not advocating here that it is not a good idea to opt for change if you are not living in your most healthy-licious body or your most happy-licious life. Not at all. I am all for taking destiny in your own pretty, capable hands and taking some awesome, self-empowering action. But I want you to make this journey towards your most radiant-self one of long-lasting triumph. And spare you from any yo-yo cycling or self-hate.

Have you ever heard about the term skinny fat? It describes a body that looks quite healthy from the outside (in that it is not overweight), however if you gave it a thorough glance the inside, you would get a different picture. A skinny fat body has very little muscle tone compared to quite a lot of fat tissue. Visceral fat to be precise. Which is the kind of fat tissue that accumulates around our organs. Yes, this is the one which makes us more prone to all those ugly chronic health conditions. So, if we want to lovingly commit to transformation this year, it’s time we overhauled our language and spoke about fat-loss instead of weight loss. Can we love ourselves enough this year to move and eat in ways that will empower us to let go of such disease-bringing fat? Yet allow us to stay comfortable in our own goddess shapes of our precious, unique physiques?

 

  1. Adjust your self-talk

The way we talk to ourselves matters. It matters because whatever we say to us, we believe. It becomes our reality. Sometimes we even go out of our ways to make our circumstances fit that reality. That is if we tell ourselves that we are too fat, we will make sure we can proof ourselves right. Yuk. Really, do we want to be right on this one? Do we really have to overeat or feed us with junk to live up to our self-loathing language? Fact is, we do not like being wrong. Right? Which puts us in not such a great spot if what we tell ourselves is derogating. If we call our bodies names, we suggest that they are unworthy of love. And what we cannot love, we usually do not nurture or treat in a way that will blossom. Which is quite crazy, if you are headed into a journey of transformation. Obviously, you are taking this journey because you have a goal which you want to achieve. You are passionate about changing something in your life. Something you are not okay with anymore. Something you want to let go of or exchange with better, more empowering, more glowing ways. So, if you mean it, if you are serious about your endeavours then you will have to alter your self-talk too. Instead of talking yourself down, replace those discrediting words with those that ones that will lift yourself up. Yes, you are enough. You have always been. And you are NOW. Reaching your goal will not make you more enough. Or enough-er. I am not saying it will not be wonderful transforming your life and making your dreams come true. Because it absolutely will be. Plus it will make you a stronger, happier YOU. But it will not change any of your worthiness. Get used to speaking to yourself in a language of kindness, love and care. And see the rest of your life fall into its happy-licious I-can-do-this place!!!!

 

So, no. I am not coming up with a long (or short) list of New Year’s Resolutions this year. Vows that are all too hard to follow. Which I will have forgotten come February. Just plain self-compassion it is I am choosing. For myself. And I am hoping you will do the same for YOU. Here are 4 different ways how you can head into your journey of self-transformation feeling insanely empowered. Remember you are worth smothering yourself with love. Love that feels and looks insanely amazing. Love that out-glows everything else. Love that does not betray or is hard to maintain. Humble, beautiful self-love. Do you think you can do this, my gorgeous baby warrior girl? Do you think you can make 2019 all about self-compassion?

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