100% People

Self Acceptance

30 October 2007 | Author: Hayley

Self and size acceptance for somebody who is overweight could be considered as a completely impossible state of mind. For someone who is constantly dieting, judging their appearance and comparing themselves against others, the thought of accepting the way they look can either be seen as a dream, or as a nightmare.

Many people believe size acceptance is giving in. They believe they would be surrendering to an unhealthy lifestyle if they accept their bodies for what they are. But what many don’t understand is self and size acceptance can work alongside living a healthy, active life. You can still accept who you are today, whilst keeping in mind who you may become in the future.

Size and self acceptance is about respecting yourself. It’s about educating your mind to understand that by accepting the way your body looks, possibilities you once thought were out of reach suddenly become in reach and you can start living the life you’ve always dreamed of.

Training your brain to think on a whole different level to how you and others around you think is no easy task. It takes time. However, here are a few things to begin thinking about:

• You will always be your biggest critic. You will always judge yourself more than anyone else will.

• Remember how lucky you are. Your body is amazing. Appreciate what it can physically do, rather than how is physically looks.

• Be grateful for something everyday. Pick something that you are grateful for and remember there is always someone less fortunate than you.

• Remember to laugh. Take time to have a chuckle at all those light hearted things that remind us how absurd the world can be.

• You should also realise that judging yourself on appearance, is as bad as judging yourself on gender, race, religion.

Self & size acceptance needs not only to be recognised by individuals, but by society as a whole. The only way this can become a reality, is for people of size to start taking on the values of size acceptance in their every day lives. As society begins to see happy and content larger than average people, they will have no reason to degrade and judge. In terms of health and fitness, the number on a pair of scales and the size tag in your clothes is irrelevant. To read more on this subject have a look at our article by Fitness Instructor Emma Britton called Health Is Not A Dress Size.

Accepting your body for the beautiful miracle it is, can be such a difficult ideal to get your head around. But when you do, you can begin to take on a positive outlook. Instead of being hit with unachievable challenges and obstacles, you will have the confidence to face them with a smile. Of course everyone has their down days, but self acceptance is about accepting you are a human being not a robot, and I don’t know about you but I would much rather have a bouncing booty than bolts through my neck!

Useful Links

http://www.obesitydiscussion.com

Obesity Discussion offers a place to talk about the latest obesity studies, information on obesity, childhood obesity, healthy recipes (such as the atkins diet), obesity surgery, diet pills, exercise, weight loss support issues, and more.

The Obesity Awareness & Solutions Trust (TOAST)

Toast is committed to those whose lives are directly affected by obesity and ensures that they have a voice.

Shelley Bovey

‘Sizeable Flections’ just one of the four great books Shelley has written on the subject of Size acceptance

Adios Barbie

Comical and funky body image site for every body. No matter what your size or background, Adios Barbie hopes to inspire you to love your body through thick and thin!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Help & Advice, Self Acceptance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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