Go Easy on Yourself— Take it slow (and be nice)
Without a doubt, you know that berating yourself or your body because it’s not six feet tall and/or a size two is an exercise in futility. You want to tone it up? Fine. You want to slim it down some? Also fine. But be reasonable. To put this figuratively, if you were born a pony or a Clydesdale, don’t try to change yourself into a racehorse. The pony and the Clydesdale are beautiful in their own fashion, and useful as well. They deserve your love and respect, both for what they are and for what they do.
If either of those is your body type, celebrate it. Isn't that far, far better than trying to beat it into something else entirely? Perhaps something your body simply cannot be without extreme measures? (If at all.)Too Often the Unsung Hero Here's the thing. Whether you accept it or not, your body is one of your best friends, Sure, maybe it frustrates you with features you dislike, or with illnesses and susceptibilities that drive you crazy and maybe even frighten you on occasion. And sure, it needs reasonable care and feeding, which you may sometimes feel disinclined to give. But it’s also your ticket to life here on Earth; without your body—whatever its pluses or minuses—you are off the bus, baby. So pay some respect to the ole bod now and then. Treat it like the treasure it is. There's something else, too. Why play trained seal for advertisers worldwide that exploit people’s physical insecurities to sell them things? Often, things they don't really need. What say you flip those folks off, so to speak, and accept the body Mother Nature gave you. Doll it up, if you want; even sculpt it within reason. But don’t subject it to some idealized and unreasonable vision of perfection. Work with what you’ve got instead of striving for the physically impossible—and making yourself miserable at the same time. When you want to gild the lily a bit, simply make a few small changes to lose weight. Nothing too heroic, just some simple changes that will in time create a nice “snowball” effect for you. Maybe start with Dr. Oz’s suggestion to eliminate a mere 150 calories a day. (Suggested January 2010 in the Sunday magazine section.) Just that daily drop of 150 calories can allow you to lose a pound a month. That’s 12 pounds a year—painlessly. So, what simple thing can you do to ax 150 calories a day—walk for 30 minutes, perhaps? Since humans are said to burn roughly 5 calories for every minute of walking... Not a walker wanna-be? Okay then, what if you forego the daily chocolate bar/cookie or the mid-morning muffin. Or, have one glass of wine at night instead of two. (Or two instead of three: you know who you are.) Just take the whole process by degrees, but start today! Just do one thing...and then another... No need for some big ordeal, when nice and easy can work just as well. (IF you take the steps.) And to help you keep things light (as it were), we've put up some fun weight-loss quotes. Just click here.
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