Treating my body like my pet
- Heida Reed
- May 9, 2018
- 3 min read
Two days down. Eating well, done. Going for a run, done. Sort of. It was more like a hobble. I also whimpered a lot this evening in an insanely intense dance cardio class. But I showed up. I can handle two days. I did unload a highly irrational bitch fit on my boyfriend about a fitted sheet from Ikea, but I'm sure that had nothing to do with how hungry I was. And I'm not trying to eat less at all, that's not the goal here, I'm just eating very different foods. My body was shouting at me 'Hey, where are those crunchy tortilla chips we love and that synthetic orange goo you dip them in? Give us some of that!' And I almost did; I had a healthy veggie chilli for dinner and as I sat down to eat, I thought this bowl could do with a tortilla chip or two. A mere garnish. My body was half way to the kitchen when my mind said 'wait, this is a slippery slope; when has anyone ever had just one or two chips?' I haven't. Tortilla chips work like this; take one, cut to you, an hour later, face inside bowl, catching runaway crumbs with your finger. 'No' I said. Mind over matter. My mind won. My body will join in triumph soon enough, when it knows what's good for it. It's confused right now, I don't blame it, it's my fault.
It's always hard for your body at first when you're adjusting to a new habit. Especially diet and exercise. But I want to make sure that this time, I appreciate my body. Be kind to it. Often when I try and get into better shape I'm even more critical of it than normally. I do a few weeks of intensive workouts and eat "slightly" better and I'm like 'Why do I still look the same?! Where are my Heidi Klum legs?! Where is my JLo booty and why hasn't this fucking calzone underneath my butt cheeks vanished?!' We live in a culture of immediate gratification so it's no wonder we sometimes think we can have a quick solution to everything. Yes, it takes a lot of time if we're looking for a body transformation and if that is what we're after, we need to be ok with it taking time. It's not what I'm after though. I mean, not entirely. Who am I kidding, of course I want a JLo booty, but to reach a superficial standard is not my main goal here.
How many of you stand in front of a mirror and criticise yourselves immediately? I do. Without thinking. It's a habit. I can walk past a mirror very quickly and still focus in on the dimples on my hips that I wish weren't there. How messed up is that! Not the dimples, but how your mind can do that. It's like a drive by shooting for your confidence. Like you're a cowboy in a western and as you pass the mirror, you draw, 'bang bang! Fuck you body for keeping me alive and pumping blood through my veins and allowing me to move and fight off infections and a billion other things! How dare you not be perfect looking on the outside!' It is. We just don't see it sometimes. But it is. Let's all be Mr. Darcy to our body's and tell them you love them just as they are. They deserve it so much.
THINGS I'M ADDING TO SWAP ONE:
I will NOT pick out physical flaws. If I notice any, I'll try and give them some love instead.
I will NOT talk or think negatively about my body. First step is to be aware of when I'm doing it.
I will pamper it. My body goes through a lot for me. I can return the favour with a some TLC.
I know this is all easier said than done. This is how I want to look at it: My family's dog, Loki, has an underbite. I think it makes him more adorable, if that's even possible. If you had a funny looking pet, would you define them as such? Maybe but I doubt it. But would you love them any less? You'd probably love them even more for being weird and wonderful. Why can't we extend the same courtesy to ourselves? If we can give this much love to our pets, we must have some left for our perfectly imperfect bodies. I'm gonna try. Oh man. Decades of learned behaviour needs to be unlearned somehow. If you join me in one thing on this journey, I hope it's this.
I'll probably say that about all the things.
H
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