How to start idolizing the skin you’re in
Summer is in full swing and that means bathing suits and body issues may be a battle all too familiar for many women. In fact, approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their current shape and shift into diet mode when it gets warm out. So how can gals everywhere stop fixating on an “ideal” body and start idolizing the skin they are in?
Cara Alwill Leyba, master life coach and the author of three best selling books on living your most fabulous life including “The Champagne Diet: Eat, Drink & Celebrate Your Way to a Healthy Mind and Body”, shared her summer of self-love strategies, so we stop looking at the scale, obsessing over our size and start living our most effervescent lives.
Here are her tips!
– Make a list of empowering females you admire and list their qualities that have nothing to do with their appearance. Use these women as personal role models to prove that talent goes so much further than size and start spreading the message with friends! Take Pink’s recent tweets that kicked her criticism to the curb. And, if celebrities don’t do it for you, start taking a selfie a day and instead of picking yourself apart, challenge yourself to find three things you DO like. Repeat often!
– Don’t Wait on Your Weight: “I’ll do it when I lose weight.” Sound familiar? A common trap we fall into believing is that life will be better when we are thinner, we obsess over the scale because it’s something that seems easier to control instead of making changes in the areas that make us unhappy. We hope confidence will show up when we lose weight.
– The fastest way to self-love is through action. Choose one thing you’ve been “waiting on” and do it. It can be big or small. Some examples: wear a tank top despite how you feel about your arms, speak up at a meeting, book a weekend getaway, make a dating profile if single or try a new gym and get moving that fab body. You can usually buy a single class at a trendy boutique gym without committing to a monthly membership. In Indianapolis, there are great gyms who offer this like Cirque Indy, which offers an aerial circus class. Action builds confidence, and the more you step out and do the things you’ve been putting off, the easier they become.
– Pamper Yourself Despite The Pounds: You deserve gorgeous clothes, that swimsuit that makes you feel sexy, pretty hair and makeup, whatever, NOW, not 20 pounds from now! Treating yourself to fabulous things, can give you an instant mental boost and you deserve it!
Tip: Set aside a budget for some new summer staples or those blonde highlights you’ve been afraid to get. Make the appointment and do it. When we look good, we feel good! You can even call department stores and book a complimentary session with a personal shopper, Nordstrom and Macy’s are two stores in Indianapolis that offer this free service. Spend the day finding clothes you feel fabulous in and that fit.
– Ditch the “Dead Weight”: No, we’re not talking about actual pounds, but eliminating people and things that cause stress can make us feel healthier and happier!
Tip: Purge the things that make you feel bad. For example, go through your social media feed and delete or hide anyone that drags you down, only keep what is uplifting. Go through your closet, anything that doesn’t fit, too big or small, must go. A great rule of thumb is: if you haven’t worn it in 6 months or more, toss it or donate it.
– Get Grateful for Your Body: We often don’t appreciate our health until it’s gone, so start appreciating the amazing things our bodies do which goes far beyond how we look in a swimsuit. Studies show gratitude can immediately shift our mood by focusing on what we’re thankful for. In fact, Oprah was quoted saying: “I finally realized that being grateful to my body was key to giving more love to myself.”
– Get a small journal and make lists of all the things your body does for you when you start to judge yourself physically. For example: “I am grateful for my legs allowing me to explore the world around me, and that my ears allow me to hear my child’s voice.”
To learn more, visit www.TheChampagneDiet.com.