Fitness & Nutrition Paradigms Exposed

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Once I lose 20lbs, then I will love myself”?

Have you ever said, “I’m going to eat a perfect diet - and then I will love myself?”

Or -

“When I lose all the weight, I will keep it off forever, and I will love how I look - and then I can love myself.”

Our brains get all mixed up with the fitness and nutrition/diet paradigms (beliefs). We believe what our mind tells us: Working hard, eating right, and accepting nothing less equals love. There is always the premise out there that the external forces of the fitness and diet industries, and their beliefs, will change how we think about ourselves. Will it?

Now that I am on the other side of "fitness love," I have gone to truly taking care of myself. I see the industry for what it is.

1. A Slave Driver, I was the slave to the thought of being thin.

2. A Dictator, “I have told you what you have to do to be successful, if you don’t, you’re

not; and you will not be thin.”

3. The Enforcer, She (me) provided me with an all-encompassing love for the quest, the

love of being thin. She also gave me my drive to push myself harder - 33 years of

pushing!

4. The disciplinarian was the scale, totally rebuking me whenever that number went up. It

was heart-wrenching. (Get rid of that scale)

You can run a marathon if you want, but you don’t have to. That’s an option too. If you do run that marathon, you don’t have to run another one. It doesn’t make you a better person by doing this, it gives you experience. You can also be ok with not finishing the marathon (a metaphor for anything in your life). Just love yourself. Hmm, that's anticlimactic. If you want to try another marathon, you can, but it’s not necessary to finish the marathon, and you might even be better off by not doing so. (Now that’s a different view) It's so repetitive, and if the musculoskeletal system isn't just right, the repetitious pounding will create musculoskeletal misalignments. Gently be intuitive.

Love yourself enough to do a light workout, rather than an all-out blitz; sometimes that is love.

Show kindness to yourself and lift weights in a way that strengthens - but doesn’t tighten your muscles. (There is a difference and a technique) Compassionately understand that most fitness regimens force you to overwork, and the technique is tightening your body. Tenderly realize the fitness industry is built on a paradigm for men, not the needs of women.

The fitness and nutrition industries have built a multi-billion dollar empire that requires us to buy into what they are selling. Love yourself more, don’t buy into it.

Our only way out of the fitness/nutrition cycle of lies is to love ourselves enough to be intuitive instead a follower of the rules of the fitness industry. Move, but don’t force. Eat well, but don't restrict. Love yourself enough to choose you, as you.

I'll be honest, It's a lot of work to flush out the fitness/nutrition paradigms. If you need some help, I would love to be there for you.

With total compassion and love,

Laura