New Years Day used to be one of my favorite holidays, but for all the wrong reasons. 

I approached the day with enthusiasm for one single reason:

Changing my body.

All the diets.
All the running.
All the things to make myself look better.

But, as I have gotten older, I find that I don’t want to punish my body anymore.

I want to offer her grace.

If you, too, find yourself craving love and acceptance of your physical self, here are three ways I am learning we can be gentle with our bodies in pursuing our health goals:

1. Don’t compare your body to someone else’s body. You have not lived their story, and they have not lived yours. Can you learn from someone else’s journey to wellness? Absolutely. Should you follow them on Instagram, eat every single thing they do, and forget the food that makes YOU feel good? Absolutely not. Instead, appreciate your body for what it has endured, enhance the canvas before you in healthy ways, and marvel at how you have grown beyond just the surface of what others can see.

2. Focus on one area at a time. Ask any woman about her greatest physical insecurity, and she will offer it without hesitation. Ask for another, and she can likely name another feature she doesn’t like. Then, another. Then, another. When you are inspired to improve your physical self, do not let yourself snowball. Make a goal for yourself on one single area and move forward with strength vs. discouragement. In this, your confidence will build every time you see progress and you are more likely to sustain health.

3. Look at the bigger picture, not just tomorrow or your next photo shoot. One of the most challenging parts about physical health is that it’s a long-term goal. Much of the life changes we hope to sustain build gradually and sometimes over many weeks and months. Research suggests it takes 66 days on average for a habit to become routine. Think back on a healthy behavior that you already do. How long did it take to master to the point of it becoming a natural part of your life? If we’re honest, we want the long game health, but we also want the immediate results. Consider a future reward that might keep you motivated to stay in the health game long enough to make your goal not just a reality but a lifestyle. I believe that once you make it, the true reward will be your love for your body and your pride for what you have accomplished.

So, release any New Years pressure you may be placing on yourself and commit yourself to gentle, to grace, and to growth.

After all, we are so much more than our physical bodies.

But just think of what we can accomplish when we feel our best and fall in love with the skin we’re already in.

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