When I was struggling with my weight, I couldn’t bear to look in the mirror naked. I was scared of my own reflection. I would tell myself that I was “trying” to love myself, but really, I wasn’t willing to go the whole way.
I was so scared of the feelings that might come up if I actually faced my naked body, so I avoided it completely.
However, during this period of not looking at my body, I kept expecting myself to feed my body with healthy foods and naturally want to work out.
And then I would be so disheartened and frustrated when:
I ate 6 cookies in a frenzy… again.
I made excuses for not making it to the gym… again.
Why do you keep f*cking this up, Jamie? Why can’t you just take care of yourself?
Something just wasn’t clicking, and I’m not the only one who was struggling. I see this all the time in my coaching practice.
Women come to me because they want to stop eating crap and they want to start taking care of themselves and get healthier.
And I always ask them — how do you feel about your body naked?
I get responses like:
“Ugh, no. I just don’t.”
“I avoid.”
“That is absolutely terrifying.”
Here’s what I now know : we can’t expect ourselves to take care of something we can’t even look at.
If we can’t look at our naked bodies and feel that connection to our physical self, it’s going to be a hard road to that place of wanting to eat well and wanting to treat our bodies well.
We get so angry at our bodies for not looking a certain way, for having cravings, for not cooperating with us, while we haven’t been holding up our end of the bargain – we haven’t even really, truly seen her.
For a second, I just want you to imagine a life where you love looking at yourself naked and frankly, you think you’re beautiful and maybe even sexy. Sure, you have cellulite, tummy rolls and your arms jiggle, but you’ve gotten to a place where you embrace your reflection in the mirror no matter what. Imagine this.
- Imagine how much more comfortable you would feel being intimate
- Imagine how much more confident you’d show up daily
- Imagine how much easier it would feel to want to put beautiful foods into your body
- Imagine how much more connected you’d feel to your body
- Imagine how much less inclined you’d be to eat 7 cookies at once
Embracing your naked body makes feeling confident, eating healthy and connecting to your body so much easier.
I’m going to challenge you to take on this “get naked” challenge for the next TWO weeks. Choose at least two of the below challenges to take on. I suggest taking on the one that sounds the most appealing and the one that sounds the most terrifying.
Have fun with this and go slow, being gentle with yourself the whole way through:
- As you wake up in the morning, while still in bed, spend a couple of minutes just touching your body – your skin, your curves. Reacquaint yourself.
- Spend 3-5 minutes gazing at yourself in the mirror naked. Try your best to tell her gentle, compassionate things. Maybe you need to apologize to her, maybe you need to ask her something. Just start looking, and begin a conversation. This will be uncomfortable at first, but it will get easier every single time.
- Dance naked for 15+ minutes. Put on whatever music soothes your soul and let yourself freely dance to the music. Don’t think about it, just let your body flow with the tunes.
- Cook naked. Just you, heels and an apron, perhaps? 🙂
- Lay and read naked
- Sleep naked
- After you shower, in between taking off your towel and putting on clothes, just spend a few minutes totally bare. Walk around, pick out your outfit and just see what it feels like to feel free
- Spend 10-15 minutes massaging your body with lotion or oil. Don’t just slap it on, but really spend the entire 10-15 minutes doing this. Feel every part of you (yes even the cellulite on your tush!)
Are you still with me? You mean you didn’t shut this email and say “is she nuts”? Well that means you’re SO ready for this.
I know this might be so beyond scary for you, and if it is, just choose 1 of the above challenges. Start small, and wherever you are is completely okay. Know that this is scary for all of us.
Can you see how really looking at your body, and actually getting intimate with your nakedness can help you feel closer to your body and therefore respect her more?
In the comments below, I’d love to hear — what is your relationship with your naked body? Which challenge sounds the most exciting and which sounds the most terrifying? And as you go through this challenge, please keep commenting and let me know how it goes. I’m here to support you through it!
Love,
Jamie
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