If there was one resolution we could manifest for every woman, it would be to stop the body hating! Why, why, why do we as a sex feel such gravity when it comes to fitting into a perfectly curated and manicured image or in this case, size 0 pants, before we can tackle our list of other dreams and desires? And why can't happiness exist until we reach this goal or ideal weight? Author Sarah Jenks, writer for Darling Magazine has some touching insight when it comes to our bodies, our goals and transforming self-loathing into self-loving... I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting at ten years old. I remember fantasizing about how different my life would be once I lost fifteen pounds. I dreamt of the cute boy giving me a Valentine, getting the lead in the school play and making the A-team in soccer. Unfortunately, I was never the girl who could stick to a diet. For the next fifteen years I’d set reasonable goals and choose a diet, only to find myself in a threesome with Ben and Jerry just six hours into it. My perfect life always felt thirty pounds away. The pain I felt living in a body I hated was all consuming. Even the most wonderful days were clouded by that morning’s discovery of gaining three pounds since yesterday or that the dress I bought last month now wouldn’t zip. When a guy showed interest in me I was convinced he was crazy or that he must not be looking at my thighs carefully enough. I could never let loose on the dance floor because I was worried about how much my underarms would jiggle. It was like I was living in body jail. After finding myself in the trash can fishing out the last three pieces of Dove Chocolate Promises from the bag I had just polished off whilst hiding in the supply closet of my ad agency three days into my seven day juice cleanse, I realized that if this diet thing was going to work, it would have worked by now. It was very clear that my issue wasn’t willpower (I’m still not sure that’s even a real thing) but that I was a full blown emotional eater and needed to get help on a deeper level. Over the next year I made sweeping changes in my life and in my attitude about food and my body. I was so overcome by what I learned and discovered along the way that I quit my job in advertising and now work as an emotional eating coach and am actively working with major media and publications to change the way women relate to their bodies and food. Now that I’ve busted out of body jail (if you want to learn more about how I did that you can join me for a free workshop) I’m so aware of all the damaging lies I told myself about my body and can see how insidious these lies are in our culture; I see the same lies coming up over and over again with women. [olists num=1]
Want more inspiring stories? Check out Darling, here!
from The Chalkboard http://ift.tt/1Rhl01U
via
IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment