Being critical of your body is one of the hardest things to overcome. We tend to be our biggest competitors, which has its pros and cons. It’s great to strive to be better, but being overly critical to ourselves will only set us back.

If you are someone who hates your body, answer this: has hating the way you look helped you reach a healthy weight so far? Has dwelling on your imperfect body parts helped them become perfect? No one has ever said that focusing on their body in a negative way is helpful.

It’s so important to respect and love your body during its transformation. Body image expert Judith Rodin couldn’t have stated it better: “You don’t need to lose weight first in order to take care of yourself. In fact, the process happens quite in reverse!”

You don’t have to like every single part of your body in order to love and respect it. You don’t have to accept your current weight as your final weight. Respect and love means treating your body with dignity, meeting its needs, and being gentle throughout the process.

Focus on what you love, not what you hate

Do you love your smile? Your eyes? Focus on what you love about yourself! Still take notice of the parts you want to improve, but be gentle and encouraging about it. For example, if you are self-conscious about your stomach area, think to yourself, “I can still feel my abs getting stronger underneath. I am still beautiful and a work in progress. A couple months from now my stomach will be leaner and I will be even happier.”

Make sure you are comfortable

Often times people who hate their bodies feel they don’t deserve to wear nice and comfortable clothes until they reach their ideal body weight. If you wear over-sized clothes because you feel you are too overweight to wear something nicer, this is not treating yourself with respect.

Stop comparing yourself to others

This is called the body-check game; you enter a room and compare yourself to everyone else. Just because someone weighs less than you doesn’t make you any lesser of a person. Just because someone is more muscular than you doesn’t mean you aren’t strong. Comparing yourself to others leads to an even larger lack of confidence. Love yourself first!

 

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