One of my goals has been to eat for health and not solely for looks.
I must have forgotten this important goal because the other day I was being too critical of the way my body looked - a little bit of tummy pooch; thighs not exactly rock solid. I'm not overweight, but I continued to bash my body and point out what I thought to be less than ideal. I started feeling discouraged. Hmm, are you seeing what's wrong with this picture?
My husband put my negative thinking to a halt by saying, "You're beautiful! I think you look hot!" I paused, blinked, turned to him, and asked, "Even if I gain weight?" My husband gave me a funny look, "Of course! You will always be beautiful to me."
Awww! 50 points to the husband! 
Really, though; I was touched because he was sincere in what he said. In fact, my husband told me not to be so hard on myself! It wasn't doing me any good.
I also felt ashamed for my body-bashing. My husband loves me as is. I have the freedom to be in my own skin and know that I will be accepted, even if I don't look like a Hollywood movie star (a lot of that is smoke and mirrors anyway)! I should give that same kind of love and acceptance to my own body.
Instead of focusing on all the imperfections and yearning for that "perfect" body, how about I be a little more thankful for all the blessings I've been given? How about I delight in the fact that I have a functioning, energetic, healthy body and take care of it in a loving way?
JoLynn wrote a great post at her blog, The Fit Shack, that reminded me of these things. Why should we wait until we have that "perfect" body before truly living life to the fullest? Live it NOW! Live joyfully, show kindness, have fun, be productive, try something new, focus on health and not outward appearances - NOW!
If you'll allow me to get deeper, for me, living life to the fullest also means living with a focus on what's truly most important. And that's a focus on giving God glory and enjoying my relationship with Him. When all's said and done, that's what really matters in my life.
Sure weight loss can be a very good goal, but weight loss shouldn't be the end-all, be-all.
Phew! Well, OK! I got a little passionate there at the end! Hope you made it through all that! 
Still, thinking on these things does make the little tummy pooch look a lot less important. And frankly, I don't think anyone cares about it but me!
Photo credit: Dani Simmonds
Originally posted 2008-03-14 06:00:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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8 comments ↓
Great post! And you know, I think it is totally natural to feel that health, nutrition and exercise is more than how your body looks but still get down from time to time. Good for hubby cheering you up! I actually find that after I work out, even though it isn’t possibly true, that I look better
The other day, I decided to really get started on working out regularly again. My cardio pilates DVD promises to tone me up, so I had the idea to take photos of me now and then again in a month so I can see progress even though in a month I may not otherwise have noticed the changes. I was scanning through the pics I took and said to hubby “you know, I already look pretty toned” and he says “everybody could use some more toning though”. Okay, thanks for that! *slap* Says mr. beer belly himself.
I’m rambling. My point is I totally agree it is about more than how we look but we wouldn’t be females in today’s society if we didn’t love the side effect of looking good too.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Susan,
You already know that I’m right there with ya, but I love hearing your experience of deciding that you’re going to be happy now instead of waiting for some future time, yeah!
Thank you very much for recommending my article to your readers, also. And, I just saw that you are also partying at the Ultimate Blog Party! I’ve been going through the list but didn’t get to your’s yet (I started from the bottom – can you believe there are over 1400 of us partying now, wow!!).
Emily,
Oh yes! I definitely want to look thin and toned. I would be lying if I said the way I look meant nothing to me! I’m just trying to not make it the most important.
I say good for you for being toned and feeling pretty good about that!
Teasing is not funny, Hubby!!! No teasing in this area!!!
JoLynn,
You’re very welcome!
Yes! The Blog Party is crazy this year! I know I’m not going to be able to visit every blog, but it’s still lots of fun!
Your husband seems like a really quality guy. Micah tells me the same thing sometimes (that I’m hot and beautiful and he’d think I was hot even if I weighed more) and it makes me very happy. My body isn’t airbrushed and I can get quite frustrated about that.
But you’re right…we have to live now. I don’t know if I’ll ever be fitter or hotter, but that’s ok because it’s not like it’s affecting my quality of life or how my husband feels about me. Even then I’d still have to live and enjoy my life while working on my goals. It’s just nice that I don’t have to worry about ill-health or lack of love.
Now I just have to remember this.
Well said, Mrs. Micah. There are so many other positive things in life that to spend a majority of my time obsessed with having a perfect looking body is like showing disrespect to all the wonderful blessings I’ve been given.
Sounds like you’ve got a good man too. Hey, right there! A wonderful husband; that’s one of those blessings!
[...] you have heard of Cash Money Life, you may not have heard of his wife Nutrition Fitness Life. She posted some great reflections on weight and health this week. Appreciating what we have is very much on my mind right [...]
how sweet is your husband? and they best part is that he so –OBVIOUSLY—means it.
I loved this:
There are so many other positive things in life that to spend a majority of my time obsessed with having a perfect looking body is like showing disrespect to all the wonderful blessings I’ve been given.
————–
so very very true.
it is NOT about the vessel.
MizFit
MizFit,
Thanks! Yes, I’d say my husband is a keeper.
I do believe we need to take responsibility for properly caring for our bodies. We need to do those things to keep ourselves healthy in body, mind, and soul as best we can. But my beliefs would also tell me that in the end, it’s really not all about ME. The world doesn’t spin around ME!
Hmm, this has the potential to get kinda deep here!
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