English
French
German
Thinking back on this past year and the amazing women I know, I want to share a disturbing trend among my female friends and colleagues. Many a conversation involves some mention or afterthought of “I’m so fat,” or “I can feel my waistline expanding,” or “I bet I’ve gained 5 pounds over the past week… I can’t stop eating.”
The majority of these women are professionals and mothers. They are smart, strong, and independent members of our society; they live a healthy lifestyle and are responsible for the family living healthy. They are indeed the supermoms who do it all!
Yet if you ask them how they are doing they will no doubt mention how they’ve gained weight or feel as if they have.
Why do these women perseverate on their weight? Why does our society make them feel like they aren’t worthy if they aren’t a size 4? Moreover, how does it affect their children who overhear these subtle self-disparaging comments?
These are Super Moms, NOT supermodels. Only supermodels need to be obsessed with every calorie they take in.
Let’s face it, all of us are living in a culture that puts a huge emphasis on physical appearance, at the same time freely criticizing excess weight at any age. What constitutes “excess weight” has even changed over the years.
Remember Marilyn Monroe? The ultimate sex-pot of the 20th century was in fact a size at times a size 12, though she reportedly fluctuated to a size 8 at times.
Unless you are part of the one third of our country who is obese, you shouldn’t be counting calories or constantly thinking about their weight so often.
If you are just maintaining your happy weight, then be happy in your own skin!
Ladies, let go of the ball and chain you are carrying around! Guilt and blame don’t motivate change, they just make people feel bad, and when people feel bad, they don’t tend to be motivated toward healthy behavior.
This has been proven time and again: the more you think about your weight and every calorie taken in, the more likely you are to end up overindulging. We aren’t the number on the scale or our dress size!
We can recognize that a child’s worth is far more than what their weight is, so why can’t we recognize the same in ourselves? Don’t just praise your children for all their positives—praise yourselves!
Only this way can we preserve our self esteem, or dare I say BUILD up our self esteem, even as adults. Yes, we need that self-esteem too, not just our kids.
Negative thoughts don’t bring about positive change. Positive thoughts do. Simple as that.
We have so many better things to be focused on than tight jeans! Gratitude for the day and what love we have around us is a great start! Appreciating the fact that we are able to go for a walk or take a class at the gym makes us more likely to engage in those activities.
Positive thoughts bring positive change.
It’s hard to feel badly about the extra slice of pizza we ate when we focus on the smile we get from our child at pickup. You can’t let yourself feel guilty about the extra pound or two on the scale if you are too busy planning a fun weekend off of work!
Listening to how our bodies feel each day so that we can choose which exercise to take part in, not what we think we should do. Barreling through another routine or run that leaves us exhausted and starving doesn’t serve us in the long run.
That same attention to how we feel will help us decide which fruit or veggie may need to be added in that day, or how much more protein we may need. Over time, this is the kind of mental attention that keeps us fit and healthy.
I want to see the focus of my fellow Super Moms be healthy living rather than looking thin, fitting into certain pants, or seeing a number on the scale.
Our thoughts create our reality—so think positively!
