All woman at one point or another have had a goal for their bodies, whether it is to be a “goal weight”, to look like an Insta celeb, to have 6 pack abs or to be a certain shape- thigh gap, squat booty, waif like model etc. The problem with having a goal like this, is that it can sometimes quite literally be impossible to achieve. I know that makes me sound like a bit of a party pooper but we need to be realistic! I could say, my goal is to be under 60kgs when I haven’t weighed that since high school! I might want to be ripped like a CrossFit Games athlete yet I have no intention of living the lifestyle of one or perhaps I want the curves of JLO, when nothing short of surgery will put those lady lumps on this frame!! All I am doing by chasing down these goals, is stealing my own joy daily. What we need to acknowledge is that our bodies have a natural individual shape and healthy set weight point and this fluctuates with our age, lifestyle and nutritional habits. Just because we were a size 6 in high school does not mean that we can go back to that by doing what we were doing then. Life happens, our bodies change and our habits need to adapt with it. What works for us in our 20's likely won’t work for us in our 30’s and what work’s in our 30’s likely won’t work for us in our 40’s and so on. We might have been able to maintain our weight by skipping breakfast, not exercising, smoking a pack of ciggies a day and dancing all night on the weekend when we were in our early 20’s but now with a stressful full time job and 3 kids in our 30’s, that lifestyle isn’t going to work out so great. We need to firstly accept the reality of what we’ve been blessed with and where we are currently at. Then choose to work with it positively!! And secondly, we must follow “The 3 Golden Rules” to maintaining our bodies’ healthy weight (whatever that might be for your body)
1. Maintain a healthy and nutrient dense balanced diet that feels good for you 2. Maintain a regular exercise routine, doing something you love 3. Manage stress and look after emotional health
Urrrrrgh these 3 things AGAIN?! I know, I talk about them a lot but in all honesty, unless you are focusing on making positive changes or maintaining these 3 keys areas, you will struggle to reach any “body” goals and if by chance you do, you won’t be able to maintain them forever or easily. You will never know what you’re body is capable of until you let it thrive by providing it with the best of conditions. We don’t deprive a plant of its basic needs and expect it to flourish so why do we do it to our bodies? Skipping meals, ignoring stress, not exercising since 1998, eating an unbalanced diet of restriction or total absence of care, yet wanting to look like perfection! That in itself is enough to make your anxiety and stress go wild! So let go of the unrealistic beauty standards for yourself, embrace whatcha got going on and start with the basics! Eat a decent diet, exercise and manage stress.
