Thursday, June 10, 2010

Healthy Body=Happy You


If you read fitness magazines like I do, you've probably seen articles commonly titled "Loving Your Body-No Matter What!" that seem to reappear again and again, month after month. They usually suggest that you stop focusing on the body parts you hate and redirect your attention to the body parts you dig the most. I strongly advocate this behavior because let's face it, most of us aren't perfect. I know I'm certainly not. Often times while looking in the mirror, I catch myself zeroing in on the parts of me that need work, not on the parts that are working pretty well already.

Here's my suggestion to take all of this 'loving your body' stuff a step further: Appreciate your body for it's health and what it allows you to do on a daily basis. Appreciate it's strength and function. Ask yourself what that is for you. Is it going on a jog in your favorite park? Pushing through a spinning class? Lifting 5 extra pounds than last week? Picking up your child? Carrying your groceries home without huffing and puffing? Whatever it is, try your best to love your body for all of the things it allows you to do.

As I was training one of my clients the other day, she told me she used to always have an issue with the size of her legs. She shared that the issue melted away one fantastic day while on a skiing trip. She was on the slopes and rocking out a difficult run when she realized that there was no way she could be such a great skier if it weren't for her strong legs. Skiing was an activity that she had always been great at and without the strength of her legs that she always had issues with, her skiing would plainly suck. From that day forward, she gained appreciation and lost hate. I love that story.

It's easy to be negative. I find myself in negative places every day! Work at being positive and eventually, positivity will come naturally. If you are a healthy person, embrace it and be thankful today. If you're not healthy, then get working at it! Focus on your health and you will only feel great as a result.

Be Well!

No comments:

Post a Comment