10 Reasons to Love Your Body NOW!

If one more of my friend tells me they NEED to lose weight NOW I will slap them — with love, of course. Because I just want to shake them (with love) and tell them, “That is a MYTH! Do you NOT need to lose weight! That’s a big myth! You’re beautiful!” And I would shout this with love, from the rooftops. Of love.

If you want to lose weight for health reasons, then go ahead — my point is that NO ONE should feel that they HAVE to, simply because bathing suit season is coming. Can you imagine if we all just said, “screw it, we’re fabulous” and didn’t get in “bikini body shape?” It would be AWESOME.

And you CAN. Here are 10 reasons to love your body NOW! Lord knows I’m trying as hard as I can.

10. Because, Oprah.

Let me explain. Oprah puts herself on every single cover of her magazine. Every cover. Once in a while, she’ll be joined by Dr. Oz or Ellen, but it’s usually all Oprah all the time. Look at a cover of O Magazine and now look at the cover of any other magazine. She doesn’t look like anyone else on any cover. And it works And it’s wonderful. Because sometimes even when I’ll think, “Really Oprah? June cover again?” I’ll realize, hey, she’s Oprah and it’s her magazine and we don’t see enough bodies like hers on magazines. SO TAKE IT AWAY, OPES!

9. Because you’re too young for this.

Worrying about your body in your twenties is ridiculous. We’re too young for this kind of angst! I look at photos of myself from when I was 21 and I think, Oh man, I had a beautiful body, I can’t believe I used to put that body down. I wish I had that body now! And the cycle continues a few years later. Even in your thirties, you’re too young to fret about your body. (And forties!) Love it NOW. Because one day you’re gonna look back and kick yourself for not appreciating what you had.

8. Because think of all the amazing things it can do for you!

It walks. It dances. It runs. It digests food for you. It lets you dream. It gives you eyelids so you don’t have stuff stuck in your eyes all the time. Sounds way basic, huh? Who cares! You gotta start appreciating your body somewhere. Appreciate your arms and your legs, because some people don’t have those, and would kill for your arms that you diss for being “too fat.” Try appreciating them for what they can do for you. Try doing a pushup. Look at how strong you are! (If you’re like me, you do push up on your knees, and that’s okay. Baby steps!) Just appreciate the most basic functions of your body if you can’t love it yet. It does so much and works so hard.

7. Because it’s not as bad as you think it is.

We are all our own harshest critics. I have a friend who is just so mean to her stomach while I’m in glorious amazement saying, “Girl, if I had your stomach, I WOULD ONLY WEAR CROP TOPS. EVEN AT WEDDINGS. ESPECIALLY AT WEDDINGS,” and then she says, “WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING AT ME?” and then I start doing the Carlton dance. No but seriously, we are waaaaaaay too hard on ourselves. No one else sees the flaws you do. So cut it out.

6. Because you’re going to miss out.

This is a true story, one I’ve been way too ashamed to admit for so many years, but I’m going to do it because I don’t want ANYONE to make the same ridiculous mistake I did. I was offered a free trip to France to visit a friend at her family’s at their vacation home or whatever it was. And I didn’t go. Why? Because the vacation home had a swimming pool. And I didn’t want to be seen in a bathing suit.

DO YOU REALIZE HOW STUPID AND RIDICULOUS THAT IS??? I TURNED DOWN A FREE TRIP TO FRANCE. GUESS HOW MANY FREE TRIPS TO FRANCE MY PARENTS HAVE SINCE OFFERED? ZERO. GUESS HOW MANY OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THAT I’VE HAD SINCE? ZERO.

You’re going to miss out on life if you’re worried about your thighs. Don’t do it!

5. Because life isn’t photoshopped.

Everyone is so photoshopped these days, it’s insane. You see someone on a magazine cover and most likely, you’ll feel a small twinge of “Ugh” as in, “Ugh, I wish I was her,” “Ugh I was I had her abs,” “Ugh this magazine is so expensive,” — whatever, you get my point. You have to remember that it’s been MASTERFULLY photoshopped. Miranda Kerr doesn’t even look like Miranda Kerr, you dig? People don’t look that way in “real life.” And the photos you should treasure and use as inspiration should be photos of your happy self!

And about the above image: that was real photoshopping done by Target in order to give the model a proper “thigh gap.” SCREW THE THIGH GAP! Your thighs touch because they’re BFFs, it’s no big deal.

4. Because you may be setting an example to someone else, even if you don’t realize it.

If you’re a mom and you’re always complaining about your body, you may not think your kids will pick up on it, but they do. They may not understand it, but the takeaway will be something like, “Mommy says she’s fat, and she sounds sad and mad about it, so fat must be bad.” Is that the message you want to send to your kids? You gotta be careful about what you say. Don’t ever body shame yourself in front of them, ever. It’s not something they should have to deal with.

3. Because life’s too short.

I know, I know, forgive me for using this cliché but how could I not? Life really is too short to spend years hating your body. Remember what Ferris Bueller said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” And what if while he was saying that, Sloane didn’t even hear him because she was busy hating her awesome bod? There’s way too much to do and see in this world. Let your focus in life be on experiences, not how you look while experiencing life.

2. Because negative thinking breeds negativity.

Have you heard of the Law of Attraction? It states that like attracts like. What you think about, you bring about. So if you have a positive attitude, you attract positivity. Which means that if you have a negative attitude, you attract negativity. And why do that to yourself? Why go through life attracting negativity because of your negative thoughts and feelings about your own body? It isn’t worth it. It’s kind of a waste of time. And it only does more harm than good. Tell yourself that you love your body, even if it feels like a lie. Tell yourself until you believe it.

1. Because hating your body is exhausting.

It’s just sooooo stressful and tiring, and plain exhausting to hate your body all the time. It’s so much easier to say, “Hey this body I have ain’t bad,” and go on with your day. You don’t need any added stress in your life!

Hey, don’t get me wrong here: there’s nothing wrong with working out if you hate your body. I work out and I love it. It makes me feel good. And the most important thing, is that it makes me love my body, which is what I want everyone to do. Well, not my body. I mean you love your own body. Get it? Got it? Good. LET THE LOVING COMMENCE!

Featured image by Ralph Morse via LIFE Photo Archives For Google, Shutterstock, and Workthatmatters.blogspot.ca via Target.com