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| Found on Pinterest |
Anxiety towards my diet has always been an issue in my life
and I don’t think that I am the only one. It is so easy to fall into the trap
of believing what can only be described as lies about yourself and about your
body image. On countless occasions I have found myself completely consumed by
the pressure to reach a perfect body, a perfect healthy lifestyle, a perfect
life.
But, life is not perfect. It is not neat and tidy. It is not
a failing to find yourself feeling overwhelmed, lost, bored or unhappy. We do
not live in a perfect world and we are not perfect. I don’t think that I will
ever reach my idea of my ‘perfect body’, it is simply not attainable.
However, this is not a reason to simply not care about what
I put into my body or how I treat it. I know that my body needs a range of
nutrients each as important as each other, each with a special job to do in
order for it to function well. I know that my body works at its best and my
overall wellbeing is at its best within healthy ranges of weight, stress,
exercise and so on. I have been given my body, which is unique, for life and I
feel that it is only right for me to look after it.
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| Found on Pinterest |
In a way anxiety and worry itself has the potential to be
more unhealthy than the richest, yummiest, indulgence you can think of. It can
take over until it is all you can think about. It is moments like these that I
have to remind myself that there is so much more to life than this, than what I
look like, than what I feel like.
It is when you can accept yourself as okay or good enough as
you are right this minute whatever shape or size you are, whatever is going on
in your life at the moment that the pressure is relieved. The belief that you
are fine just as you are enables you to look at things with a brand new perspective.
You can look outwards towards other people, you can live a healthy lifestyle
that is not driven by fear or selfish ambition but by the knowledge that it is
a good thing to be doing and it will have a positive effect on those around you
as well as yourself in mind, body and soul.
There will be ups and downs and times where you feel as
though you are battling against this anxiety and losing the fight but then you
will find release when you stop to remind yourself of the truth. The truth that
being a certain size, shape or physique does not have the power to make you a
better person or make people love you more. Accepting your size, shape or
physique has the power to free you from the unrelenting pressure of striving
for perfection.
So with this new found freedom I think that it is time to
embrace the body which we have been given. Treat it well and look after it, not
abuse it. Let’s enjoy food, enjoy exercise and enjoy looking after ourselves.
I will leave you with some beauty tips from the stunning Audrey Hepburn:
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| Found on Pinterest |
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| Found on Pinterest |
