Unconditional Body Love

   

Posted by Diana Fornaris

Jun 6, 2018

I am a firm believer that total body health begins with a total love for your body. Here’s why: if you’re not loving and accepting of your body, why would you do good things for it? What motivation is there to work out or eat right if you dislike the body you do it for?

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When we don’t love something, we are either harboring negativity toward it or avoiding it altogether. But when we flip the script in our thoughts about ourselves, something radical happens- this is where change begins. 

It’s not easy to love your body when you feel that looking a certain way will make you happy. Happiness is accessible to you right now and it’s called loving and accepting your body completely as it is, with all its flaws, wherever you are at on your fitness journey. It’s not easy to love your body when you’ve accepted others opinions of what is beautiful. Growing up, I was always the shortest girl in class. And every model I ever saw was tall. And models are known to be beautiful! So I thought, I must not be beautiful if I’m short. And that is just one small, personal example of how hard it is to love your body in our society. I know so many people who tear apart their bodies in hopes for a better one. They are wreaking havoc on themselves by over-training at the gym, starving themselves, bingeing, or making others feel bad about themselves to bring themselves up. 

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I wish I could tell every person in the world how life changing simply loving yourself completely is. If everyone loved themselves better, I think our world would be a better place.

Years of personal growth and surrounding myself with good people have helped me change my perspective that you have to be tall to be beautiful. If your definition of beauty doesn’t include you, re-write it. And I’m so glad I re-wrote mine. Now I am better able to not only love myself but love others too. Wherever you are on your fitness journey, love yourself for getting there. Reflect on how much your body does for you; how it powers you through your day and provides you with breath and laughter. Focus on these qualities rather than the number on the scale and I can almost guarantee you will begin to treat yourself better in and out of the gym. 

 

Diana Fornaris is a Trainer and Boxing Instructor at Merritt Clubs Fort Avenue.

Topics: health advice