Day 03 - Body Image: What's in your mirror?

Body Image 101 I learned tonight

1. Do not try on exercise clothes when attempting to get back on track, lose weight, or any major lifestyle change.
2. Do not attempt to get into the next size down until your current size becomes baggy
3. Do not try on clothes after you have eaten dinner
4. Do not listen to the voices in your head if you do any of the above.
   

I came home and did a quick YouTube google for "Body Image". Here's the quick highlights:
Listen to teenagers talking about their body image. Wow.
Watch a montage of what influences us to do what we do. Wow.
No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted. It's an illusion. Watch the illusion take place HERE. Wow.
All of these are short but if you can only watch one - watch illusion.

I have to keep reiterating that my goal is based on health - not image. There is a certain, undeniable satisfaction about weight loss and strength training. It's a challenge (which I always like) and it's tangible. However, losing weight for the sole purpose of beauty, fashion (in this humble writer's opinion and considerable experience) is the surest way to guarantee a yo-yo weight gain.

I've managed to keep the vast bulk of my weight off for the first time in my life, going on 2 years. This has been a life style change, a mind change, a semantics change, a daily purpose change - CHANGE. My weight loss and maintaining a thin, in-shape frame is just a facet of my goal: BE HEALTHY is the ultimate goal - my diamond. Other facets include yoga, stress release, simple foods, limiting intoxicants, eliminating negative stimulants (this includes negative people), among other things. None of these alone will meet my goal. It is only when the facets come together that the diamond forms and becomes strong.

Find your inner diamond. To quote a great song called Broken by Antigone Rising, "I am a diamond. I cannot be broken." I see diamonds in my mirror...