Love the Body You Have: Begin to appreciate what and who you see in the mirror.

Can you miss your old body without actually wanting it back?I think you absolutely can.And I think sometimes when we say we miss an old version of our body, we may be describing something much deeper.Maybe you miss how you looked.Maybe you miss your strength, athleticism, body composition, or weight.There is nothing wrong with admitting that.But you may also be missing how you felt during that stage of life.Maybe you carried yourself differently.Maybe there were people, routines, experiences, or parts of your personality that you associate with that period.That is why I think it is worth getting specific about what you actually miss.In this episode of Love the Body You Have, I talk about why I do not really believe in an “old you” and a “new you.” You are the same person moving through different stages of life. The book makes the same point, we carry pieces of who we are through every stage as we continue to evolve.I also talk about why appreciating a previous version of yourself does not mean you need to recreate it.Maybe there is something physical you genuinely want back.Ask yourself whether it is possible.Then ask what it would cost.That cost might involve money. It might involve time, training, restriction, energy, or returning to a lifestyle you no longer want.You can genuinely miss something and still decide that the cost of getting it back is not worth paying.And if what you really miss is a feeling, that opens up another possibility.What were you doing then?How were you thinking?How were you carrying yourself?What actions helped create that feeling?Your body may not return to exactly what it was, but your confidence, energy, calmness, playfulness, or connection with yourself may be something you can cultivate again.You do not have to run away from who you used to be.You can appreciate that person, appreciate who you are now, and carry the best parts of every chapter forward.New to Your Level Fitness? Start here:https://yourlevelfitness.com

What are you actually doing when you look at yourself in the mirror?Are you simply looking at your body, or are you monitoring it?In this episode of Love the Body You Have, I explore the difference between seeing yourself and repeatedly scanning your body for something to criticize.Maybe your eyes immediately go to the same part of your body every time.Maybe you start listing everything you do not like.Maybe a thought about your appearance quickly turns into a much bigger statement about who you are as a person.I think it is worth slowing down and getting clear about what is already happening.Are you being critical?Are you being compassionate?Are you appreciating what your body does, or are you only evaluating how it looks?I also talk about my own experience with cerebral palsy and why there are still moments when I become frustrated with my body, especially when I am injured or dealing with pain.The goal is not to never have those thoughts.The goal is to notice when criticism shows up without allowing it to become the entire story you tell about yourself.You may have a bad day.You may feel frustrated.You may wish something about your body were different.But you can work through the feeling, let it go, and intentionally choose another way of seeing yourself.Ultimately, I want you to practice building yourself up enough that the things you tell yourself begin to feel genuine.Not forced.Not fake.Something you actually believe.New to Your Level Fitness? Start here:https://yourlevelfitness.com

Is social media making you see yourself through other people’s eyes?Or, more accurately, is it making you see yourself through your perception of what you think other people see?That is the question I want you to sit with in this episode of Love the Body You Have.Social media gives us a constant stream of information to interpret. We see what is trending, what gets attention, what people comment on, what gets shared, and how our own posts perform.That feedback can be useful.But it can also become something much bigger.I think the danger starts when attention becomes validation, and that validation begins influencing how we determine our own value, attractiveness, confidence, or worth.The people reacting to your content may know you well.They may barely know you.They may not know you at all.And yet their reaction can start carrying an incredible amount of weight.In this episode, I talk about the difference between evaluating feedback and internalizing it, why outside opinions are not automatically bad, and why staying connected to your own perception of yourself matters so much.I also share a couple of simple things that have helped me create distance from my phone and social media, including using Do Not Disturb and physically putting my phone in another room.You do not have to stop using social media.The goal is to stay connected enough to yourself that likes, comments, shares, and other people’s perceptions remain information rather than becoming instructions for how you should see yourself.New to Your Level Fitness?https://yourlevelfitness.com

Why can something as positive as a compliment make us feel so uncomfortable?In this episode of Love the Body You Have, that is the question I want you to think about for yourself.I think sometimes the problem is not actually the compliment. The compliment may simply challenge a story we have been telling ourselves for a very long time.We can turn opinions about ourselves into statements that feel almost factual. “That’s just the way I am.” “I’m not attractive.” “I’m not confident.” “I’m not good at that.”Then someone comes along and tells us something that does not fit that story.Our immediate reaction may be to dismiss it, minimize it, question why they said it, or even feel like attention is being placed on a part of ourselves we would rather keep hidden.In this episode, I talk about why compliments can sometimes feel like exposure, why you do not have to immediately believe a compliment in order to receive it, and how simply saying thank you can give you room to consider the experience later.You can also use that reaction as an opportunity to get curious.What did you feel when someone complimented you?Why do you think you felt that way?There does not have to be a right answer. The important thing is getting to know your own experience a little better.New to Your Level Fitness?https://yourlevelfitness.com

When did your body become something you regularly evaluated?For a lot of us, that awareness starts much earlier than we realize.In this episode of Love the Body You Have, I share one of my earliest memories of becoming aware of my body. I was eight years old, standing in an elementary school classroom while our weights were called out in front of everyone. I weighed more than many of the other kids, and I remember suddenly wondering whether there was something wrong with that.Experiences like that can become one of many layers.Comments from other people. Clothing sizes. Scale numbers. Social media. Fitness culture. Other people's expectations. Society's expectations. Eventually, evaluating our bodies can become so familiar that we simply accept it as normal.I do not think we have to.In this episode, I talk about how body criticism can become a learned habit, why breaking even one moment of that pattern matters, and why I continue to recommend the simple practice of standing in front of the mirror for sixty seconds and deliberately working on seeing yourself differently.You may not believe what you are trying to reinforce at first.That is okay.You are working against messages and patterns that may have been building for years or decades. The goal is to create another option and continue reinforcing it.I also talk about why having physical goals and learning to appreciate your body are not competing ideas. You can pursue change while simultaneously changing the way you see yourself.Your body can be something you care for, move, strengthen, and have goals for without becoming something you constantly grade.New to Your Level Fitness?https://yourlevelfitness.com