Dillan DiGiovanni is a coach with some new advice about having the perfect body. It will definitely surprise you.
I’ve always prided myself on not being one of “those coaches”. You know the kind.
The kind that claim to have all the answers or solutions to fix your life in 5 tips or less.
It’s not practical. It’s not reality. People are way too different for one cookie-cutter plan to work for everyone.
But as for advice about having the perfect body—I have to say I do have something worthwhile to contribute. It’s based on my experience navigating my own body image journey and supporting hundreds of clients with theirs. It’s something anyone can do, no matter your age or the size, shape and countless unique attributes (like hair, moles and things like that) of you.
Here’s my advice for having the perfect body: CHOOSE the one you have.
That’s right. Simply choose to accept the body you have, because it’s what you have. If you can stop resisting what your body isn’t and instead choose to love and embrace what it is, then you win. You have freedom and personal power. Great job.
◊♦◊
Sounds too easy? It isn’t. If you can practice choosing what is, you have accomplished what most people cannot and will not ever do. Due to societal stigmas and all the media nonsense, most people spend a significant portion of each day of their lives bemoaning (or at least thinking about) their imperfections. Few people learn to accept what they have as being perfect.
When we start with acceptance, we start from a place of positivity, incentive and possibility.
|
So, if you can get your brain to think your body is just fine as is, you are among the enlightened. I’m not saying you have to stop there. We can and should have a personal desired level of health and fitness. We just need to start with acceptance before we can make any real progress. I learned this from the Buddhist nun, Pema Chödrön when she said, “start where you are.”
Otherwise, all we are doing is perpetuating the cycles of diet, deprivation and negativity that never get us the results we want. When we start with acceptance, we start from a place of positivity, incentive and possibility.
◊♦◊
To have the perfect body, decide right now that you have it. And then add in what you need and want to do to be fit. Your body was built for stamina and endurance. You want to live another day and feel good in your skin (and look damn good in the meantime). Some people accomplish this with a clean diet, some do the gym or Crossfit thing. Some walk, run, jog or ride their way to strength, endurance and a toned physique. Some people do yoga, but I don’t.
Pick whatever works for you, but do something. Eat your vegetables, not because someone is telling you to, but because you need the essential nutrients they contain–nutrients you can’t find in processed junk food. Instead of saying, “when I lose another 30 pounds, I’ll have the perfect body,” just decide you have it now and take it one step closer to optimal health and fitness.
Take the steps you know you need to feel the way you want to feel, but let it start with an attitude of accepting the mobility and health you do have. Be grateful for it. When you come across someone who is struggling with physical health in some way, make it a goal to run a mile because you can and he can’t.
◊♦◊
It’s getting close to Resolution time. Here’s a new one for you, that other people won’t steal: I will choose to have the perfect body.
It’s getting close to Resolution time. Here’s a new one for you, that other people won’t steal: I will choose to have the perfect body.
|
We get to choose where we focus our energy and thoughts. We can choose to focus on what we look like compared to others. We could all come up with a long list of the ways our bodies aren’t perfect in the eyes of others. We also get to choose what we have been given.
We can choose to have the perfect body.
Photo courtesy of Martin Free Ramos, used by permission
More by Dillan DiGiovanni:
Love the Haters and Thrive Anyway
If You Hear Yourself Saying, “I Don’t Need This S*%!”, Chances Are You Do
What I Learned From Watching Men (Before I Became One)
Visit him at his website, dillandigi.com
Follow him on Twitter @dillandigi