Constantly chasing your 'dream' body? Here's how to embrace your actual body & to improve your body image.

I and many of my clients started their health journey with some sort of a 'dream body' or physique we were chasing. 

However, this mentality unfortunately sets up a lot people for failure, and developing an unhealthy relationship with their body as a nasty bi-product.  

Why? 

1) Every 'body' is unique. Philosophical, I know, but genetically? Accurate. Every person's physique will depend largely on their genetic make up, so it is not realistic to compare your body to someone else's. 

2) This mentality is placing the majority focus on the outcome. Instead of focusing on sustainable health-seeking habits that will improve your energy, mood, cardiovascular health and general well-being AND eventually shape a leaner physique; this outcome mentality finds people going to 'extreme measures' (like aggressive dieting) to try to get their dream body, faster. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. 

What does work?

Focusing on embracing your actual body, how you nourish and how you move it. 

Some quick tips for how to improve your relationship with food & your body image:

1. Don’t have a goal weight. This helps to reduce your focus on the 'outcomes' you were previously chasing, and instead being more in tune with the daily strategies that will improve your health, energy and overall well being; including sleeping well, eating nourishing foods and moving your body. 

2. Training & choosing exercises that make you excited to go to the gym & move your body. I understand a lot of people can view exercising as a chore, but it's also incredibly rewarding. It often comes back to finding a routine/training program that you ACTUALLY like. This can also be a combination of things including strength training, running, pilates, swimming, dancing and more. 

3. Explore other ways that get you active e.g. walking, running, casual bike rides, ocean swims, dancing, different styles of classes. Movement is more than a training program/goal. If you can find ways to incorporate movement as a 'hobby', keeping it in a regular routine feels more rewarding. 

4. Have other hobbies that bring you joy & fulfilment that aren’t related to food & exercise. Some people can find themselves stuck in a routine that is completely evolved around gym, food and body composition focus (hello anyone in the fitness industry). So, it's incredibly important to also expand your interests (and way that you fulfil/validate yourself) outside of 'health and fitness'; so when you do have a 'bad body image day', you're not collapsing your whole self-esteem in one go. 

5. Aiming to eat majority unprocessed foods with a flexible approach, guided by what gives you energy, agrees with your digestion and doesn’t make you feel more lethargic/brain-foggy. Nutrition is more than just calories and weight loss; it has properties dictate how you feel within your body, how much perceived energy that you have, even your daily mood! That's right, the balance of nutrients we put in our bodies affects the neurochemical balance in your brain, and quality food improves neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin (all your happy hormones). 

6. Regularly re-affirming that there are no ‘good’ & ‘bad’ foods. There are mouldy foods, food that aren't nutritious and food that are actually healthy for you. However, if you're eating a lot of foods that are healthy for you, then the odd bit of junk food here and there won't kill you. So, this is your chance to start putting all polarising, “all or none”, "clean eating only" diets in the bin. These plans insinuate that if you eat anything off these so called 'diet lists', that you've automatically done something wrong and that you've totally messed up. Well, you haven't. If the food you eat is 80-90% wholefoods like lean meats, eggs, fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, dairy and healthy fats - then having a 200 calorie chocolate bar or an ice cream, is not a detriment. In fact, I teach my clients to enjoy these foods daily, as a part of a balanced diet. 

7. Saying ‘no’ more often & not apologising or justifying for putting your own needs before someone else. You are the only person is responsible for meeting your own needs. And it's incredibly challenging to do that consistently enough, when you are constantly putting your needs aside to 'keep others happy'. So, start creating more healthy boundaries for yourself, based on what you need each day and week. Insert more time to slow down, rest, recover and actually listening to your what your body needs and following through. This builds a lot of self-trust in your own self-governance, which plays into the security & health of your nervous system and reduces subsequent coping mechanisms (I.e. binge eating).

You'll find that these methods completely transform your approach to health, and re-builds connect and confidence within your own body. 

Whilst this transformation doesn't happen over night, these 7 reminders are fantastic way to be conscious of your daily/weekly efforts, reflect on what still needs improvement, and to keep working on them as both your headspace and your routine change - for the better! 

Feel free to contact me directly if you need more help or accountability in changing your health, body image and more. My clients have been very successful, and they'll never look back! 

Emma x