Why You Must Love Your Body First

Love your body the way it is. That seems like a big ask, huh?

The idea of that can seem like a fantasy, something impossible. (You may even have laughed to yourself after reading it.)

Many people believe that once they reach a certain weight, or they look more “toned,” they’ll start to like, maybe even love their body.

Has the thought, “Once I lose that last 10 lbs, I’ll finally be happy with my body” ever crossed your mind?

Or maybe “I’d be happy with my body if it looked like hers”?

What happens when you reach that goal and your brain is so used to NOT loving your body? Do you think your brain will suddenly start loving it?

Will you really be happy with the result or will you strive for something “better”?

Always striving for better can be a great driver of accomplishment and growth, however it can also lead to chronic dissatisfaction with yourself or your circumstances.

This is why you must love your body first, if you want to reach your body goals.

Why It’s Advantageous to Love Your Body First

You might be asking why you need to love your body the way it is, before you strive to change it.

The reason is this.

When you start loving your body as it is, your brain starts getting used to positive self-talk, specifically positive body-talk. It starts getting into the habit of loving your body, no matter what.

Then, when you do hit your body goal, you’re more likely to love your results and feel satisfied.

Just as habits form with physical behaviors, habits form with mental behaviors. So when your brain is in the habit of thinking one way, it tends to continue to do so.

So you can see how unless you start to love your body the way it is, you are more likely to love your results once you reach your ultimate body goals.

If you continue disliking, or even hating your body, your brain will continue with that habit. As a result, changing the way your body looks won’t necessarily change the way you think or feel about your body.

Much of the purpose of creating and reaching body goals, is to have good relationship with your body, so why not start now?

How You Can Start to Love Your Body

You might be thinking “how can I love my body if I don’t love my body?”

The truth is, your brain has just been telling you that you don’t love your body, but in reality, there are things that you do love about your body and just ignored.

Do you love a certain attribute or feature of your body? Start by thinking of at least one, and then you’ll probably find you can list multiple.

For example, do you love how strong your legs are?

Or maybe how beautiful your hands are.

Do you love the color of your eyes, or the silky texture of your hair?

Maybe you love how you carry yourself when you walk, or maybe you have really amazing posture.

You’ll find that once you start thinking of one, then two things you love about your body, the list starts building. Start telling your brain that you DO love your body, even if there are only two things you can think about right now that you love.

You may not love every little detail of your body (probably no humans on this Earth love every detail of their body), but you don’t have to in order to still love your body.

• GET WEEKLY TIPS: Eating Habit and Weight Loss Tips

Get in the Habit of Loving Your Body

Once you’ve become aware of a few of the things you love about your body, you can start building a habit of loving your body.

Write yourself a little love note of the things you love about your body and keep this note in your purse, wallet, on your phone, etc.

Then make it a habit to read it at least once a week, but ideally several days a week. Then think about those reasons you love your body as much as you can.

The more often you do it, the more quickly it will become a habit.

Your brain will then start to practice those thoughts that you love your body, rather than thoughts of not loving your body.

You’ll already start to feel good, before you’ve even reached your body goal. Imagine what you’ll feel like once you do!

The Results You’ll Create if You Love Your Body

When you start noticing things you love about your body, and then get in the habit of thinking about those things, you’ll start to create that feeling of genuine love toward your body.

When you truly love your body, you can start making better choices for it. You’ll want to take care of your body. (Just like if you had a pet you loved, you’d do your best to take care of him or her.)

Your decisions going forward will be in the best interest of your body. For example, feeding it more nutritious foods, indulging without overindulging, getting in a daily walk, getting more sleep, etc.

• Related: 7 Ridiculously Easy Hacks for Healthier Eating Habits
• Related: 5 Clever Ways to End Overeating

When you start taking action from a place of loving your body, you’ll start creating the results you want. You’ll be closer to whatever goals you wanted to reach.

The best part is, you’ll have already gotten into the habit of loving your body that you’ll also love your results, even if they weren’t the exact results you were originally aiming for.

So, you’ll not only be more likely to create positive results, but you’ll also be more likely to be happy with your results, regardless of if you accomplished all of what you set out to accomplish.

This is so important for two reasons. The first is, you want to be happy with any result, especially if you worked hard to achieve it. The second is, it helps to eliminate negative feelings of failure, disappointment, etc.

Natalie Bacon, Certified Life Coach, talks about the advantages of body love as well, and how your thoughts ultimately create your results.

A quote from her about body love that I personally love is “where you start from is where you end.” This reinforces the idea that you’ll only create results you love, if you have thoughts of love from the start.

Final Notes

This is probably one of the most important things I can teach when it comes to body goals. Try not to just set a goal and work toward it, without assessing first how you think and feel about your body as it is right now.

You’re going to want to start building that habit of thinking more positively about your body, even if it’s just one attribute or feature like I mentioned earlier.

Start to love your body first, and your amazing results will follow.