"I just need to lose 10 pounds then I'll..." Be happy? Date? Go after the career I want?
We put such an emphasis on our weight, it's really all the media talks about. Whether it's a celebrity who has gained weight, or lost weight, or a new article of secrets to lose weight fast, we're constantly surrounded by the notion that we should obsess over it. Here's the thing though, weight is just a number and it can also be a symptom of an underlying issue.
Due to my own health issues, I have been every weight under the sun it seems, in the last 4 years. I'm generally a small person (5'3) generally around 110 pounds is where my body feels good. However, due to some health issues impacting my digestion, liver, and hormones, I went down to a tiny 96 pounds and one year later was up to around 150. I can tell you it is never about the weight and always about how you feel.
At 96 pounds I had a lot of digestive issues and felt awful most days, and at 150 pounds I also felt awful and not like myself because of hormonal imbalances. Every weight in between my health was also struggling a whole lot. I have spent the last 4 years getting to the root cause of my health issues, an overburdened liver and gallbladder. Since addressing the root cause, not only have I lost weight (something that NATURALLY happens when we genuinely listen to our bodies and support them rather than excessively working out or cutting calories) but most importantly I FEEL so much better than I have in years.
We let our weight stop us from really living, but as Tony Robbins says we create small problems so that we don't have to focus on our bigger problems. Sometimes it can just be an excuse to avoid addressing underlying fears and beliefs.
When we believe we are worthy of the lives we wish to live, we allow ourselves to start living them. You are worthy of going after your dream job, of putting yourself out there to date again, or of spending the money to treat your body how it deserves to be treated. These are still things I struggle with today, however, over the last 4 years I have gotten to know myself so much more and moved past many blocks that I previously held.
I used to get so mad at my body for not losing weight, not working properly, etc. After I dove in and actually started learning about the human body and my health, I have so much more compassion for myself and my body. I actually wonder how it didn't give out sooner! I promise you if you knew how much your body was doing every single second you would only be amazed with it and do everything to support it. I had a yoga teacher year's ago say "your body is giving you everything it has today, even if that doesn't feel like a lot, it's doing the best it can" and this has stuck with me. Instead of beating our bodies up, we need to befriend it and take care of it! After all, it's the only place we have to live.