People often hear the phrase ‘self love’ and cringe. I want to change that. Self-love is a huge part of a healthy mindset. How can you expect to care for your body and maintain a positive relationship with food and fitness when you have a negative relationship with yourself?
When people see my transformation pictures, they see only the physical changes; what they don’t notice are the mental ones. I have been through a long process of self-acceptance. I’ve gone from focusing on my flaws and never being satisfied with my progress, to completely and utterly loving, not only my body, but my mind, and accepting myself for who I really am – which is so much more than how I look.
Loving yourself is a choice that you can make. Admittedly, it is a challenge. Especially in a world where we are conditioned to pull ourselves apart. Multi-million pound industries rely on us being self critical and play on our insecurities. Images of perfection, many of which are digitally manipulated, are thrust in our faces at every turn. It is not encouraged to be confident or happy in yourself. We are all eager to be self deprecating, pessimistic or negative. In a society like this, we cant be blamed for doubting ourselves.
We need to open ourselves up to the possibility of body positivity. In reality, if you do not accept your body at the beginning of your fitness journey, you will never be satisfied. You need to love yourself first. Before anything else. Before you lose weight. Before you get fit. Before you get your ‘dream body’. If you tell yourself ‘I’ll be happy with myself once I am a size 10’ or ‘once I have abs’, you will never be satisfied. Once you achieve one goal you will find something else you have to do before you can be happy. This leads to a vicious circle of never being truly satisfied with yourself, your body or your life. You need to allow yourself to love yourself and be happy right here, right now. This will allow you to embark on your fitness journey for the right reasons, not from a place of self-hate but from a place of self-love. You will make positive and lasting changes because you love your body and want to take care of it.
It’s all very well telling you to love yourself, but how do you actually do that? Its tough and it takes time, but it is possible. Here are my top tips to get started:
Zanna’s book STRONG is published by Headline, £16.99 (available in Trade Paperback and ebook)
