HEALTHY LIFESTYLE · OCTOBER 2018
IT'S TIME
TO START
LOVING
YOUR BODY
BETTER
E
verywhere I turn, I see
women trying to change
their bodies so they’ll
morph into something
they’re not. Our bodies are so
much more incredible than we
give them credit for.
What if we changed our
approach?
What if we changed our hearts
and perspectives to instead
focus purely on how much we
love our bodies and what we’re
grateful for? I really believe
that our actions, what we put
into our mouths and what
we do with our bodies, would
start coming out of that love.
I think we’d all experience an
extreme difference in everything,
whether or not size changed.
We’d feel a shift in how much we
believe in ourselves.
THIS, is what I want for you,
mama!
Let’s just take a minute to
really think about how amazing
women’s bodies are. They’re
beautiful and they’re powerful.
Our bodies can literally bring
life into this world. Let that sink
in for a minute, really sink in.
Your body can create the next
generation of people who will
inhabit this earth. That is so
unbelievable! Now, what would
happen if you shifted your focus
from what you look like to what
your body is able to do?
I realize that it isn’t as simple
as just switching our minds
from worrying about our size
to focusing on our abilities, so
we need to work on shifting our
mindset. A really great way to
do this is to begin showing our
bodies gratitude for the many
things it has done for us.
Start considering
the following:
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How often do you get your
body outdoors and moving?
How often do you say "no,
thank you" to the foods
that are processed and
made with bleached flours
or filled with sugar?
What would happen if
we acted out of love and
gratitude to our Creator for
our bodies?
How we feel affects us greatly!
Trust me—I've been there.
When we first started living in
the camper, I was feeding myself
all sorts of processed foods
because I was struggling to
adjust. I’d look in my closet and
start getting upset because I had
nothing to wear. I had nothing
that I thought would make me
feel good, so I decided to head
out and buy some new clothes
at Target. I wasn’t going to buy
something new because what I
had didn’t fit. It was all just based
on feelings.
The lesson I quickly learned, and
one I want you to understand
as well, is that so many of the
decisions we make (including the
money we spend and how we
spend our days), comes down
to how we feel. It may seem silly,
but I was wanting to buy a new
outfit because I didn’t feel good.
Honestly, I felt like garbage.
What I want you to take away from this is that we have one
body. It is our temple and how we treat it matters! We need
to take care of ourselves and value ourselves enough to feed
ourselves nourishing foods.
It’s hard for many of us to value
how we feel, but many of our
gastrointestinal issues, headaches,
and emotions can be due to the foods
we’ve been eating, so take the time to
go to the grocery store to buy yourself
some healthy snacks. Fuel your body
instead of filling it with junk.
One side note: I want to be clear—life
is about balance. You won’t be perfect
and you shouldn’t want to be. Having
a treat or giving in to a craving from
time to time is perfectly acceptable.
(I may or may not have recently eaten
an entire bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos
in one sitting.) It’s simply important to
look at your decisions and make the
healthy ones the majority of the time.
If this post has resonated with you and
you feel as though you’re struggling,
it’s time to show your body that you
are grateful. It’s time to take some
action!
01
Write down what you love
about your body.
Grab a journal, turn to a clean page
and write down what you love about
your body. What does it help you
do that you love it for? Why are you
grateful for it? Get really specific and
force yourself to come up with at least
10 things.
28 HEALTHY MAGAZINE
02
Take action from
a grateful place.
Turn to the next clean page and write
out how you can begin taking action
out of a grateful place, out of a place
of love and appreciation for the body
that God has given you. You could
write out what your new snacks may
look like or how much water you plan
to drink. Maybe you need to up the
number of walks you take on a daily
basis.
Don’t make it complicated!
I really encourage you to complete
this exercise and tag me on Instagram
(@allie_thatsme). I would love to see
them all!
In the end, my whole goal is for women
to stop trying to force their bodies
into a different shape, and instead
focus on what they’ve accomplished.
The mindset of so many women is
sad. I really want love and gratitude to
become your new weight loss routine.
A simple mindset shift will allow you
to become so freaking grateful for the
body you were given!
By Allie Casazza