Last week, I talked about how to love your body on Karen Caterson’s Blog: Love That Body.

Let’s use that post to kick off a week of body love, a week of celebrating the temple, a week of understanding how to work with our bodies to move forward in our lives.

Loving that Body

I was recently at a brunch, and a skinny lady across the table from me made a disparaging joke about how fat she was.

She was feeling bad about the size of her butt, which is about half the size of mine.

Then she saw me across the table, turned red and apologized.

I asked,  Why are you telling me that you’re sorry?

This made me laugh, because she really didn’t know what to say then. I mean, she apologized to me for making a fat joke.

She apologized because I am fat.

I’m a size 18-20.  I am soft and curvy and plump.

Photo Courtesy of Aaron Hockley

I’ll take my round booty and body love over her tiny booty and body hate. It is a much better deal.

Body Frustration

I used to joke that if my body was a temple, mine was a temple of doom. I have the metabolism of a hibernating bear. My thyroid screwed me and it didn’t even kiss me. My gall bladder was (and I quote) “the biggest, ugliest sack of stones” that the surgeon had ever seen.

My body does not look perfect. My body does not act perfect.

Certainly, by every standard I’m shown on TV and in print, my body is a before picture.

But…my body is pretty freaking awesome, and although I’m late to the loving party, it’s so much easier to love it than to hate it.

How did I learn to love my body?

The only way to love something, truly, is to know it.

Appreciate the View

On every body, there is something to appreciate. I started with something I liked. I started with my cute nose. Right now, take a look in the mirror and find a piece of you that you like.  Perhaps it’s the color of your eyes,  or the shape of your front teeth. Find it. Say out loud, “I like my ____________”.

Start there. And each day, see what it is you can appreciate today on that body of yours.

Appreciate the Experience

Then think about something you get to experience through your body, something you enjoy. The warmth of a bath, the taste of a mango, (even the ecstasy of an orgasm, Mmmraow! ): all of these are only available to us via these imperfect temples.

When you are in a moment of really enjoying something, it can be good to take a breath and think  “I am loving this because of my body.”

Love it Back

Love your body back.

Start by stopping  your critical eye.

I lived with only a hand mirror for six months. That’s a great, albeit drastic, way to stop the criticism.

You can also put a sticky note on your mirror that says, “If I wouldn’t say it to a friend, I won’t say it to my body.” You’d never tell your friend that the skin hangs off her knees like bread dough. Why would you say that to your body?

Why tear yourself down?  It hasn’t helped you this far, has it?

Then, also, do stuff for your body. Find something that you can do today to help your body feel better. Get a massage. Get acupuncture. Get thee to the gym.

Repeat

These three acts, performed over and over again, will change how you see your body.

Don’t Wait

Don’t wait until you’re skinny to buy the pretty clothes. Do it now.

Don’t wait until you’ve reached some level of body perfection to appreciate it.

Because waiting means putting off enjoyment. And whatever you’re doing, you should be enjoying yourself.

I LOVE MY BODY.

I love my body.

I am not the fastest.

I am not the prettiest.

I have a ways to go before I will be the healthy one racing through the water at my gym’s pool.

But my body lets me be here.

It lets me hug my kids.

It lets me feel the sun on my skin.

How awesome is that?

What I’ve Noticed

Since I’ve started to love my body, people have started to touch me more. People have told me that they think I’m beautiful. Me.

Overweight, over-40 me.

Through loving and enjoying my body, I’m getting a better body!

I am making better decisions about what I eat. I am swimming and going to my gym with frequency.  I’m sleeping deeply and well.

More than anything, I’m happier. I am happier at a size 18 than I was as a size 6.

Your body is valuable. Your body is beautiful. Your body is functional.

Your Body

Try to love it. Try to really know it and love it. You will feel so much better.