It can be so easy to get down on your body.
If you do this, please know you are NOT alone.
I mean, I think it’s safe to say we have all done it. We have all focused on some part of our body or other that bothers us.
This tends to be especially true of those of us who want to lose weight. We can even find ourselves looking at our body and pretty much not liking anything that we see.
We hyper-focus on the fat that we see or think we see on our arms, belly, butt, our legs.
This part is droopy, this part is flabby. Or rolly, or dimply.
What we often don’t realize is that this is not only harmful to the way we think and feel about ourselves, but it is also completely detrimental to any weight loss goals that we have.
We think that we NEED to be disgusted with ourselves if we are going to actually change anything. Sometimes we even welcome these negative thoughts because we think it’s going to motivate us to make a change.
Actually? It does the opposite. It almost ensure that we get discouraged and give up.
This is why here at Sascy Cycling we always encourage women to focus on what their body can DO, not what it looks like.
The emphasis is always on being grateful for the fact that we HAVE a body to ride a bike with in the first place!
Curious as to exactly why this is so important? Read on for our three major reasons on why you need to appreciate your body BEFORE you lose weight biking.
#1: Beating Yourself Up Feels Like Crap
I have a LOT of experience beating myself up over my weight.
A LOT. And, if you’re anything like me, I am guessing there is a really good chance that you do as well.
In fact, you might not even NOTICE how self deprecating you are because you are so used to it!
And, if this is a habit of yours, you might find you are doing this with a lot more than just your weight. You are doing it in other aspects of your life too.
Maybe you feel you are failing as a wife and a mom because you didn’t get dinner on the table fast enough to get everyone out the door on time. Or, you are behind on laundry and no one has their favorite socks or underwear.
You miss a deadline at work and beat yourself up more than your boss does. Your favorite client has an issue with something you did for them. The list can just go on and on!
At the end of the day it all just feels…well…bad.
#2 Being Unkind to Your Body Doesn’t Even Work
When we feel bad, we look for ways to feel better and to comfort ourselves. A lot of times that can be simply by eating more food.
This is NOT going to help us meet our weight loss goals.
We will often eat something that is not particularly good or healthy. Or, we will overeat, and then find ourselves feeling even worse because we screwed up the thing AND are stuffed from eating our feelings.
This is hardly a good place to try to motivate yourself from!
Think about how different this feels from how you feel after a hard ride. When you put it all out there and spin those legs up a tough hill. THAT is what motivates you to lose weight. So you can get up that damn hill even faster and easier!
You know what DOESN’T motivate you to lose weight?
Making yourself feel like crap and feel like a failure about your weight or stuff that probably doesn’t even matter in the long run anyway.
It would be one thing if talking to yourself like a complete jerk actually worked, but it doesn’t.
#3 If You Manage to Lose Weight Being a Jerk to Yourself You’ll Just Find Something Else That’s Wrong
Now, say you DO manage to restrict and willpower yourself through to weight loss and beat yourself up every step of the way.
The problem here is that it isn’t even going to feel that good.
You convinced yourself that all you needed to do was lose the weight and fit into that smaller size, and you would finally feel great.
And yet, you don’t.
You find yourself focusing on something else that is wrong in your life that you need to change.
And not from a positive improvement standpoint, but from a negative “THIS is what sucks about me!” frame of mind.
This is because you haven’t managed to figure out how to actually love and appreciate your body as it is FIRST.
Now, you might be thinking, “Stacy, how on EARTH do you expect me to love this hot mess that I am looking at right now as it is?”
Because, my friend, that hot mess is exactly what brought you where you are today. A strong woman who is focused on making herself stronger. And you are unique, special, beautiful, and wonderful just as you are.
I really, truly believe that for you, even if you don’t believe it yourself yet.
What you are on the inside is so much more important than what you look like in the mirror. And, chances are, if you are used to beating up what you see you probably don’t have a particularly trustworthy opinion of how you look in the first place. Just sayin’ 
A Final Note
When we focus on losing weight from a place of love and appreciation for everything our body can DO right NOW, then we feel freaking GOOD about it.
Weight loss can be so much fun if we take a lighthearted but determined approach.
When we respect ourselves and our bodies as they are right now, we can make changes from that place of appreciation.
Those changes are so much more likely to stick with us long-term because we are now in the habit of loving our body and wanting to take care of it.
This isn’t a temporary thing where you just want to drop a couple pounds so you look good in your bathing suit in the summer.
You are changing your LIFE and changing the way you view yourself in the world.
This is some powerful stuff. Sustainable weight loss can only come from developing a healthy respect for everything you are in this world right now.
NOTHING about you needs to change to be worthy. You’ve got this. I believe in you. I will be right here holding this belief for you until you are ready to grab it for yourself.
Ride on!
xoxo
Stacy
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