12 Ways to Love Your Body
Peggy Elam, Ph.D.

1) Quit comparing yourself to others. 

It moves you off center and increases the likelihood of losing (or never achieving) balance and equanimity.

2) Quit weighing yourself.

 Throw away your scale or turn it into a Yay! Scale (a delightful invention of body liberation activist Marilyn Wann, author of Fat!So? Because You Don’t Have to Apologize for Your Size.) 

3) Celebrate diversity in body size & composition.

 Appreciate the beauty in all bodies.

4) Spend your time & money on yourself
—beautiful clothes, jewelry, haircuts, hobbies, travel, socializing—
not the weight loss industry.

5) Fire the food and body police.
Spend time with people who respect size diversity and natural appetites
—and you—and disengage from those who don’t.

6) Limit your exposure to media promoting unrealistic physical or behavioral standards.
Increase your exposure to body- and size-positive art and media.

7) Keep the connection between mind, body & spirit flowing
 through life-affirming movement and practices that increase positive body awareness.

8) Clothe yourself in garments that fit NOW.  

9) Let go of the past
—what you used to weigh, how you used to look—
and accept your body as it is in the present.

10) Let go of the future
—whatever you have put off doing until you _____________ (lost weight, changed your appearance, etc.), start doing now.

11) Stand and move with confidence and assurance
of your right to take up space in the world.

12) Be kind to yourself and your body.
Expect detours and mistakes along your journey.
They will provide you with valuable lessons, growth and healing.

 @2013 Peggy Elam
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