7 Ways You Can Learn To Love Your Body [EXPERT]

What is your relationship like with your body? Do you love it? Do you hate it? When you think of your body, do you think of the physical appearance or the entirety of what your body does for you?

In today's society, when people talk about their body, the conversation usually revolves around the physical attributes that make up their body. When listening to the media or even conversations amongst people, there is often frustration about how the body looks as well as how it is letting us down. Your Diabetes & Your Life: How To Take Control Of Both EXPERT

What can we do to be in a better relationship with our body? It is no different than if we wanted to build a better relationship with a friend: we need to spend time with it, acknowledge it, appreciate it and take care of it! Spending time with ourselves and getting to know our body is important. Do you know what your body needs?

Let's take food for example. There is so much information written about healthy nutrition. Many "experts" give their opinions about what is best for all people. I have spent thousands of dollars, countless hours reading and following someone else's advice to achieve the body of my dreams. Has this worked? No! It has been an incredibly frustrating journey and one that has not helped me get to where I want to be.

But in the past couple of years, things have changed. I have let a lot of the expert advice go. I now spend time learning to listen to my inner expert. I have a tremendous amount of knowledge about healthy nutrition. My years as a nurse, nutrition junky and health fanatic have armed me with hundreds of theories about what I should and should not do. I have taken all of this advice, sifted it through my life experience and come up with what works the best for me.

This process did not change over night. A turning point for me occurred about 18 months ago when a very good friend and colleague of mine noticed how hesitant I was about food choices whenever we would sit down for a meal. Why don't you just eat what you want to? I was quick to defend my rationing behavior — low fat margarine instead of butter, low sugar, low calorie, grains, fruits and vegetables, limited meat, etc. The nutrition experts had hailed this as the healthiest way to eat. I had tried eating that way for the better part of 30 years. What happened is I became obsessed with food. I was in a constant state of denial about what I wanted to eat; I was always hungry and looking for food as I kept myself from eating what I really wanted. And with all of my rationing, I had slowly gained weight over time!

Fast forward to today. I eat very healthily but I eat what I want to eat. When I give myself permission to eat what I really want to eat, do my personal work including PSYCH-K balances with my physical body and let go of the limiting beliefs in my life, I notice what feels good in my body and what does not. Everything You Need To Know About Stress EXPERT