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Body Positivity
Today I was listening to a radio program as I was waking up, and the guest speaker was talking about body positivity from a Christian perspective.
In today's increasingly click-bait world, we are too often sucked into articles and advertisements that convince us that we can look just like that movie star with the right clothes, workout routine or diet. Logically, we know that is baloney, but as women we were created by God to want to be beautiful and desirable so it is hard not to go down that rabbit hole when it presents itself.
The paleo sphere can often be a similar trap if we aren't careful. We want to look like our favorite blogger or lose all that weight just like that person who lost 50 pounds in two months did. We fail to realize that the blogger we envy has been on their journey for probably years longer than we have been. We run the risk of missing the big picture in our desire to be thinner, better, more beautiful.
What is the big picture? First, God created you in His image so you are already beautiful. You may not see it. Others may not see it. Rest assured that He does. He doesn't make mistakes.
Second, wanting to be healthy is different than wanting perfection. Perfection is a cruel game you will never win. Stop focusing on perfection and focus instead on creating habits that lead to health and well-being.
What I love so much about the paleo lifestyle is that it freed me from the bondage of negative self-thinking. I stopped beating myself up over the food I ate because my choices were focused on health and not physical perfection. I learned what foods were good for me and what foods made me feel like crap. I'm still learning and adjusting as I go.
Somewhere along the way I stopped thinking about that bathing suit perfect body I always wanted, and I accepted that my body is flawed and needs time and space to heal. This body of mine has worked really hard for more than 40 years to keep me alive. It is time I appreciate that hard work and stop making its job harder.
So today I am going to thank my body for all the hard work it does to keep me alive and healthy. Today I am going to appreciate that I am God's creation and that I am lovely and beautiful because He says I am. Screw the ads with their impossible claims and forget about those celebrities who spend hours in the gym getting those ridiculous bodies. That's not who I want to be.
I want to be healthy first. I want to enjoy the food I eat. Those two things are not mutually exclusive of one another. I want to respect the body that God gave me and not abuse it with food, over exercise or negative thoughts. I want to embrace the idea that I deserve to be healthy, but that to be healthy means I have to take responsibility for my choices.
Today, I own the body I have while I work to create the health and well-being I deserve.
