Men and women alike have a long-standing tradition of fighting with our bodies. We desperately want to check "athletic" or "slim" on our internet dating profile. It seems everyone is constantly on the lookout for the newest and best ways to trim down, shape up and get healthy. My current supposition in regards to this way of things is that our search for the ever-evolving “new solution” to getting fit is completely backwards.
Instead of contributing our money and energy to this billions of dollars per year industry, we should be scaling back and getting down to body basics. The ready availability of information about how our bodies function and behave, teamed up with our own knowledge of ourselves, is more than adequate to have us all looking and feeling better in no time.
There are zillions of people out there just itching to give you (*cough* sell you) advice on how to change your body. This is not one of those articles. What I offer you now are easy changes you can make to your behavior, habits and internal dialogue that will make you more in love with the bangin’ body you already have…and possibly make you healthier in the process.
Getting Naked
Seriously. Right now. Do it. Okay, not if you’re at work or a café or something. But you get the idea. Being naked, just by yourself when you aren’t worried about how you look in front of anyone, is one of the quickest ways to stop stressing about your body. We always tend to avoid what we’re afraid of so the more we’re naked and truly seeing every beautifully awkward part of ourselves, the more used to it we get. To be pleased with how we look, it’s so essential that we stop hiding from ourselves.
You’d be amazed how many people never look at themselves naked. No wonder it’s so easy to have the battle lines of imperfection drawn; remember that your body is your ally, not your enemy. Get naked! As an added bonus, this increased in-the-buff time will soon make you so used to your nude self that you’ll find you’re much less anxious when taking it all off with someone else. When you have that kind of comfort, it’s easier to stress less and enjoy more. And just like that, your sex life just got better.
Figuring Your Figure
Too often, we make the mistake of trying to make our individual, amazingly unique bodies conform to what our brains think is beautiful. It doesn’t matter to what or whom that image is attached, chances are it has nothing to do with the physique you have. The reality is, you can only change so much.
The most productive thing to do is really get familiar with the shape of your body. Imperfections aside, you should still be able to see how your body naturally wants to form itself. You can pinch and tweak little things here and there but if your goal is getting your body to the best that it can be, you’ll be far happier with the result.
Even just when you’re getting dressed, think about your shape and how clothes want to hang on you. Accentuate what’s good. Don’t try to pull off a style that simply doesn’t work with what you’ve got goin’ on. Being realistic and playing up your good points, rather than stressing about what you don’t have, is the fastest way towards looking and feeling extra sexy and chic.
