When we're caught in the dieting and body-hating trap, we choose to believe all kinds of weird stuff about ourselves.
Every day, we tell ourselves "truths" we picked up as children, in high school, from partners (who we should've never been with) and, of course, from the media. We beat ourselves up, hurt ourselves so much but are simply unable to stop -- because we're scared, because we're insecure, because we don't even realize we could change.
Today, I want to bust a few of those lies for good and help you gain a little bit of freedom to be who you truly are.
Let's go.
"I am worthless."
Everything that is going wrong in my life has to do with the fact that I am simply worthless. Something about me is not right and this will never change. Only my diet can rescue me from this place of inferiority.
Here's the truth: You are not worthless. Nobody is worthless. We are all born the same and we are all worthy of love, affection, health, fulfillment, joy, happiness and so much more.
"I am ugly."
My face will always be too round, my butt will always hang, my nose is too big, my hair is not thick enough, my ears are too small and even my toes are too long. I am as ugly as it gets.
No you are not. You are beautiful, you are unique, you are exactly the way you are supposed to be. Your diet-focused mind will always come up with new body parts to hate.
However, if you focus on the parts of your body that you like (or used to like), you will begin to think positive again and you will be able to accept and embrace your body in its current form.
"I don't deserve to be like everybody else."
I don't deserve to be happy, I don't deserve to have lunch with my friends, I don't deserve to eat a slice of pizza just because I want to, I don't deserve to eat dinner with my family like everybody else.
Yes, you do. You deserve to live a happy and fulfilled life, enjoying each and every moment. You deserve to eat like your friends and family.
You deserve to enjoy some French fries, ice cream or even just an apple. You deserve to be part of this world.
"I am unworthy of love."
And who would me you anyway?
This is so wrong, but I believed this lie the most.
We have already said that every person is worthy and so are you. You too, are lovable, compassionate, have a lot to give and are allowed to receive bundles of love.
"I can only hide my flaws by holding on to my diets."
I have already defined that I am unworthy, so it only makes sense that I need to diet for life to hide my many flaws.
Every person has flaws. Nobody is perfect and, quite frankly, who wants to be? Flaws and imperfections make you special, they make you unique and interesting. Flaws shape your character. You don't need to hide them, you need to embrace them.
Otherwise, life would be quite boring, don't you think?
"Others judge me only by my weight."
When a person sees me for the very first time, they look at my figure, calculate how much I must weigh and then define my worth as a person.
They don't care about my wittiness, my smile, my character, my brilliance, my sympathy, my emotions, my empathy or my humor. People are super superficial, after all.
I think I said enough.
"If I give in now and stop my diet, I will forever lose control."
If I give in today and eat at least a tiny bit of something I truly want, I will lose control and then I won't ever be able to stop eating, right?
No, surprisingly not. The more regular you eat, the more nutrients you give your body, the more control you will gain over your health and life.
Those are just a few of my favorite lies. Do these sound familiar to you? What other lies do you tell yourself?
If you want to, you can take a few moments (or hours) to write down all the negative beliefs you have about yourself and then write at least one myth buster for every lie you've written down. You'll see that most of your lies are far from containing a single nugget of truth.