So, I’m done with the biggest fight of my life. Now it’s time to accept and love my body exactly how it is today

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I’m so freaking tired of fighting with my body instead of loving it.

I’m so freaking tired of trying to measure up to an unrealistic standard imposed by society and the media.

I’m so freaking tired to think more about how I’m looking instead of how I’m feeling.

I’m so freaking tired because there’s been like 20 years of caring more about the image in the mirror, other people’s opinion, the number on the scale, than what my body does for me every day, what its needs are and what it offers me: an amazing sensory machine to experience life here on earth, through all the senses possible; a great vessel to contain all my thoughts, emotions, feelings; a beautiful home, for my mind and soul.

So, I’m done with the biggest fight of my life. Now, it’s time to love and accept my body, exactly how it is today.

I’m done comparing my body with other women’s because it’s pointless, since no two bodies are alike, it’s just lost time and also, it costs me a lot of energy that’s best used creating happy moments, enjoying life and living fully. My body is unique, perfect in all its imperfections, and it’s the only one I have so, I better cherish it, love it and live in peace with it, especially because we both need and deserve to feel that peace.

I’m done trying to meet the world’s expectations, trying to attain some aesthetically accepted physicality, trying to obtain a certain number on the scale.

I’m freeing myself and my body from the diet culture, I’m accepting me for who I am today, I’m choosing to feel happy right now and not when I’m gonna be 10/15 kilograms lighter because: the weight loss may never happen since I’m not dieting anymore; we only have the present moment and happiness is being felt in this instance, not in the future; for me, freedom equals happiness.

I really hope a lot of girls/women learn from my life experience and begin the acceptance process way sooner than I did so they can live happier, freer and more peacefully. I came to accept my body after decades of struggle and not liking/loving myself. I lost happy moments and great memories because I said NO to invitations/opportunities since I was feeling ashamed of my looks, even if I really didn’t have any reason to feel that shame. A life lived comparing myself to the entire female population, believing I must look in a certain way to go to the pool/spa/beach/etc or to wear some type of clothes, made me lose precious time and energy focusing on my appearance instead on my happiness and that’s because I was living by the toxic/untrue words: “When I will lose weight I will be happier”, “Thinner means happier”, “I will go there/wear this/do that when I will be slimmer”, etc. But it’s all a lie, fed to us by the media, the diet culture and all the women who aren’t true to themselves and others.

So, please stop losing beautiful moments because you think more about how you’re gonna look instead of how you’re gonna feel saying YES to that invite/date/meeting/experience/etc.

So, please start thinking about your body as more than an image in the mirror because it’s so much more than that: it is your amazing home where your thoughts, emotions, feelings live; it’s your own temple through which you can see/hear/touch/taste/smell/sense/feel everything on the blue planet; it is the third big part of yourself which, along with your mind and soul, lets you experiment this dimension fully and live life, here and now.

So, please stop the everyday struggle, stop battling with your beautiful, strong and wonderful body, and start focusing on how you can be happier, what you really want in life, how you can achieve your dreams.

I strongly encourage you to turn your attention on how you feel instead of how you look, on what you want instead of what others think, on what your body needs instead how to eat/workout so you can reach a smaller waist/bum/kilogram number/size/etc.

I encourage you to eat more nutritious foods so you can nourish your body, have more energy and be as healthy as possible.

I so, so strongly want to encourage you to move your body because: you love to do so; your body, but also your mind needs the daily movement; it’s so much fun; you feel more alive when you’re doing it; it releases endorphins and makes you feel so good; it helps you sleep better; it can be your so needed ME TIME. Move your body in which way you love: Yoga (I sooo love Yoga), running (I really love my morning runs outdoors), walks on the beach/in the park/in nature, spinning, gym training (there’s a ton of exercises/entrenaments you can choose from), swimming, dancing (dance like nobody’s watching, even if they do ), team games (not only the ones on the beach), pilates, etc. We are so lucky that nowadays we have such a big range of ways in which we can do the daily movement we need, so we can try new workouts often and we can find very easy things we love to do regularly.

Empower yourself by letting go of the ideas served by the media, by the standards imposed by society, by stopping to try to reach an ideal weight/body image.

Make your life be more about feeling good in your own skin, living with joy no matter what number is shown on the scale, accepting yourself as you are today instead of hating/disliking/hiding your body, especially since you don’t know how you will look or feel tomorrow because the only guarantee in life is that everything changes, nothing stays the same, and that’s so very true when it comes to our looks.

Something to think about:

- Do you care more about looking in a certain way than being happy? If yes, do you want to continue in that pattern of thinking?

- Are you following your own standards or those of others? Are you sure they are really your own or maybe, are so ingrained in your mind that you mistakenly think they belong to you but really aren’t?

- Haven’t you wasted enough time and energy in non-body acceptance? Isn’t now a good moment to begin the process of accepting yourself as you are?

Food for your body, mind and soul:

- Songs (many thanks to the writers/singers of these songs, they have all my gratitude 🙏):

1. Scars to your beautiful- Alessia Cara

2. Victoria’s secret- Jax

3. I love me- Demi Lovato

4. Love of my life- Jennifer Lopez

5. I am woman- Emmy Meli

- Books (many thanks to the authors of these books, they have all my gratitude ):

1. More than a body- Lindsay Kite PhD& Lexie Kite PhD

2. You are not a before picture- Alex Light

3. Body talk- Katie Sturino

4. You are enough- Harri Rose

- Instagram accounts (random order, I think they all are amazing and I give many thanks to every single one of these wonderful content creators/influencers, they have all my gratitude ):

1. https://www.instagram.com/georgieeswallow/

2. https://www.instagram.com/breeelenehan/

3. https://instagram.com/katiesturino?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

4. https://instagram.com/_nelly_london?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

5. https://instagram.com/i_weigh?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

6. https://instagram.com/alexlight_ldn?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

7. https://instagram.com/soheefit?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

8. https://instagram.com/danaemercer?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

9. https://www.instagram.com/georginacoxpersonaltraining/

10. https://www.instagram.com/izzierodgers/

11. https://instagram.com/meganjaynecrabbe?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2=

12. https://www.instagram.com/yourbodyisworthy/

13. https://instagram.com/em_clarkson?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Workout channels/platform (many thanks for every workout posted/created/shared, they have all my gratitude ):

1. Alexandra Negulescu- https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexandraNegulescu + https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZUKy_b9f8fh-lb46Iug-_g

2. Billy Blanks- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMGIp3jifsoufZv_y8_c1Qg

3. Raven- https://www.youtube.com/@pilatesbodyraven

4. Holly Dolke- https://www.youtube.com/c/HollyDolke + https://web.pinkdragon.studio/#home

P.S. I’m feeling sooo happy right now and I’m smiling like I’m Joker so, even though it’s 10:32 PM I thought I should write a little about my day because I want to show what I did to feel so amazing.

First of all, my day didn’t start well because I didn’t wake up at 5 AM as I planned so I can have time for myself and go for a run, even if I prepared everything for that to happen. The fact is that I did wake up but I chose to go back to bed, since at that moment I had around 4 hours of sleep. Yes, you think that my mind will listen to me and will help me go to bed early because that’s one of the keys for waking at dawn, but as you can witness, it doesn’t, it’s a rebel, like her mother. Actually, the beginning of this article was written last night around 11 PM on my phone as a note, thinking it will be a post on Insta, but since the ideas noted down were a bit more lengthy than I would like for a post, I decided today to create a whole article around them. So, in the morning I was a bit disappointed and upset with myself, yes, just a bit, because I worked hard with my mind to forgive myself whenever I make mistakes or I don’t do everything I can or I don’t choose what’s best for me. The reason I want to wake up early is because I really need that ME TIME spent alone and in silence, since I don’t like to get to work right away, and I really love my morning routine (yes, I will tell all about it in another article ). Between work related tasks, I wrote in my happiness journals (yes, I do have a few of those so I can learn more about what makes me happy, so I can focus on my happiness and have some time filled with positive energy) and around 1 PM I had the time to journal my thoughts away, realizing while writing that I must stop complaining about not waking up, since I already wrote a lot of times about this and for sure I bored my poor journal with this not waking up talk . So, I shifted my focus from what didn’t go my way, from things I haven’t done to what I wanted to do today, therefore I began to search for a hosting service for my blog while listening to a podcast. Then, I started to write this article while listening to music. And that made me so happy, because I looove writing!!! Afterwards, I did 15 min of cardio with Holly Dolke and 30 min Yoga with Alexandra Negulescu (thank you so much dear Alexandra, you are amazing ), so moving my body filled me with endorphins and good vibes. After a cold shower (I like to have them in the summer), I put my headphones on to listen to some music and reflect on this day, while enjoying a few fruits. And, since my body was overflowing with serotonin and dopamine, my mind was happily focused on my favorite songs, my soul was filled with satisfaction and fulfillment for what I had created, I felt the desire to dance for a bit, thinking I will also do my steps number for the day. After enjoying the music and moving on its rhythm, I received a really good news for a thing I accepted it won’t happen (but trust the Universe to fulfill your wish when you thought I won’t materialize at all and you came to acceptance with that), then, I did my night routine: a guided meditation (one from Andreea Raicu), writing in my journals (the ones that have the nightly part in), gratitude. So, it’s no wonder I made myself sooo happy since I took time to do a few of the things I love (writing an article, working out, listening to music and dancing), I disconnected my mind from work and what didn’t go right for me by journaling and focusing on what can I do today so I can feel happier, I ignored a few messages from family and friends (non-urgent ones) because I didn’t have time, being busy with working for my dream (the blog) and taking care of my needs (movement and ME TIME). And as a bonus, Universe called me around 10 PM, fine, not the Universe directly since it’s so busy , but someone on its behalf . In conclusion, this day couldn’t have been any better, even if I wrote in one of my happiness journals that it could if I had woken up at 5 AM, as planned. It couldn’t be better because I learned something from my “failure” in the morning (it’s not really a failure, it’s a beautiful lesson). Now I’m done because I worked a lot of overtime today , but I’m so happy with the results.