Self-Care September Day 19: Stop Scrutinizing Your Body

Life is too short and your mental health is too important to let inconsequential numbers be the boss of you.

Did you know? 
Your weight only measures your gravitational pull, which has nothing to do with your health or worth or capabilities or value.

Did you know?
The Body Mass Index (BMI) was created by a Belgian mathematician (not a physician) named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, who himself said explicitly that it could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual. It is scientifically nonsensical, physiologically incorrect, and likened to mathematical snake oil. (source: National Public Radio)

Did you know?

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Looking at "before" and "after" pictures immediately forces your brain to compare your own body to someone else's untold journey between two photographs, without even knowing if the steps they took were healthy or sustainable.

These kinds of photos also perpetuate a culture of shame and erroneously idealize thinness. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I used to work for a woman in the fitness industry who constantly drilled into us that her waif-like physical structure was "the ideal," but she was, ironically, one of the most physically ill, mentally unstable, and emotionally unhappy people I'd ever met. 

Did you know?
One study found that looking at “fitspiration” posts on Instagram leads to body dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem and even a worse mood.

Did you know?
The diet industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. (source: Business Wire) Companies in the diet/fitness industry profit from your personal discontent, which is why they work hard to trick you into thinking you need to look differently to be happy. Let's be clear: they do not care about you, they care about making money. 

Did you know?
Mirrors can distort reality. What is on the surface of the mirror is only a projection and therefore not something that we see in the same way that we see actual objects. Every time you look in a mirror with a critical eye, you create an opportunity to reinforce a negative self-image that may or may not even actually exist. (source: The British Psychological Society)

 Self-care September Day 19: Stop Scrutinizing Your Body

• Stop weighing yourself - in fact, today's the day to finally throw your scale away. You do not need it.
• Stop using your BMI as an indicator of anything at all.
• Stop measuring your body parts.
• Stop taking Before and After pictures of yourself.
• Stop studying your naked self in the mirror.
• Stop grabbing or pinching your body in hurtful ways.
• Stop following "fitspriation" accounts on Instagram that only showcase themselves over and over and over again.

As they say, "You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire Universe, deserve your love and affection."

• Start telling yourself, "I love you," and "My gracious, you're gorgeous," when you look in a mirror.
• Start using other barometers to measure your health progress.
• Start appreciating all the amazing things your body can do.
• Start moving for pleasure, because it's fun and brings you joy.
• Start understanding you don't have to burn calories to "earn" your food each day.
• Start realizing you've likely been conditioned by a culture and society that has messed up values. 
• Start extending yourself grace when you realize old habits die hard.
  
• Start using a gentle touch to handle yourself - lovingly and deliberately washing yourself in the shower, kindly applying lotion to your body, compassionately rubbing moisturizer or sunscreen on your face, calmly fixing your hair, tenderly clipping your nails...be nice to you. 

I love you and will see you soon!
xo,
Coach Alex