This week’s task was to follow THUMBER’S advice and SAY NOTHIN’ negative, sarcastic, or mean OUT LOUD in regards to your body, weight, face, hair, etc, or about food, calories, eating/drinking this or that.

How is that going?  Are you catching yourself?  Are you noticing how often you say something in your thoughts that are not kind and loving about your body or food?  Are you noticing it from others?

If you are being more aware of your self talk around your body and food, can you dig a little deeper and discover what feeling is behind the thoughts/comments?

Our culture is saturated with body image “requirements”.  So much so, that people become obsessed with their body.  Since one of the things that effects the body is food, it is logical that the obsession with food also exists.

Think for a minute, what could somebody believe about themselves if they don’t meet the many cultural body image “requirements”?

• not beautiful
• won’t be accepted
• un-lovable
• not enough
• unhealthy
• ?

Fear is the culprit to saying unkind things about our self or food.  Fear is the culprit that leads us to do unhealthy things to our body and with food.

Fear comes because we are believing what culture (or some unloving human) says about who we should be or how we should look.

How does one cast out the fear?  LOVE!

To realign our bodies and any negative relationship with food, love is needed. 

• To love your body just as it is at any given moment…every ounce, every scar, every wrinkle. Being grateful for all the parts of your body is a good way to start.
• To understand that food and eating is self-care and self-love, not something to be used as a coping skill or a punishment.  And that food is not something to fear.
• To understand that you are more than the weight on a scale or a pant size.  I have yet to find a scale that will tell me I have a good sense of humor or how compassionate I am.
• To understand what your body loves…like what kinds of food makes it feel  energized and healthy and what kind of exercise does your body love to do.  (Not every body is the same.  I have a friend who loves running.  My body does not  love to run, but it loves walking and yoga.)
• To remember you are more than your body, hair, face, etc.  You, the real you, is your spirit, your essence.  If you were blind from birth, how would you know a beautiful person?
• On a spiritual level, God says you are already loved and perfect in your imperfections.   If you lived and choose from already being loved and imperfectly perfect, what would you be doing?  How would you be living?  So many people are living from the fear they aren’t lovable until _____(fill in with your thing…weigh a certain amount, look a certain way)_______ or at all because they don’t meet some cultural standard.

A ‘Lighter More Loving You‘ in this area looks like…

• recognition of fear driven body image beliefs and behaviors,
• Thumber-ing…stopping the negative talk out loud in regards to your body or food, and
• cultivating a new set of loving thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors around your body and food.

Cheering You on to a Whole Cast Out Fear With Love Heart,
Barbara