Dear Cassey: How do I love my body while trying to lose weight?

Dear Cassey, How do I learn to love my body when I’m trying to change it? I want to lose weight but I want to grow an appreciation for my body in the meantime. Learning To Love All Of Me

Dear Learning to Love,

I love this question so much, for a few reasons. First, I love that you understand that you CAN love your body while also wanting to change it. Second, I love that you want to love your body every step of the way – not just the end result. And finally, I love that we’re talking about this. Because changing yourself and loving yourself go hand-in-hand.

So how do you do that if your goal is to lose weight? I have some ideas for what worked for me, but there’s one thing you should know first – loving yourself won’t always come easily, and your journey doesn’t end when you reach your weight loss goal! It’s a commitment to yourself. So with that in mind, here are the things that helped me!

Set non-weight goals too. Things like sleep 8 hours every night, or drink X amount of water every day, do 10 pushups without modifying to your knees, etc.

Choose goals within reach. Kinda the same idea as above. Just remember to keep your goals simple! For example, don’t set a goal to run 5 miles a day if you’re not a runner. Start with a 10,000 per day step goal. Starting small leaves you room to grow and keeps you motivated. Staying realistic protects you from disappointment. Think building blocks!

Remember the scale doesn’t tell the whole story. Please PLEASE don’t weigh yourself every day. Your weight will fluctuate no matter what you do, and it’s hard to love yourself through the process if you’re obsessing over that number. Track your progress in other ways – photos, measurements, how your clothes fit, how you FEEL – and just weigh yourself occasionally (or not at all!)

Treat every day as a fresh start. Whatever happened yesterday, happened. Beating yourself up because you skipped your workout or ate something outside of your plan is totally pointless. Thinking this way makes it really hard to love yourself. Instead of feeling guilty, treating yourself like you failed, etc., just move on. It’s a new day, and you’re human. It’s all about the big picture, right! So keep going.

Show yourself some love. I know it sounds silly, but you need to talk to yourself. BRAG on yourself. Start by writing down one thing you love about yourself every morning and set the tone for the day. And remember, it can be ANYTHING. You can love that you’re doing great at school or work or that you know how to make KILLER pancakes! These are all the amazing things about you that you need to acknowledge and remember. It’s important to get comfortable with this so you can transform that negative self-talk into a positive mindset. It takes practice, but mindset is everything!

Don’t let comparison steal your joy. Eyes ahead. This is YOUR journey. It won’t be like anyone else’s, so don’t gauge your success on what someone else is doing.

And most importantly, enjoy the process! Working on yourself is an accomplishment, whether it’s physical or mental. I’m so proud of you!

PS – If you have a burning question you want to ask me, leave your questions below! I may answer it in an upcoming Dear Cassey post!