Why happiness has nothing to do with the size of your waist
I’ve been wanting to write this for a while, it was having brunch with a girlfriend today that reminded me how much it needs to be written. When it comes to the relationship with our bodies and food, we are all so different. Some of us thrive on early morning work outs and kale smoothies while others prefer three rounds of toast and a lie-in. Or perhaps you like a mix of both? As someone who has moved through different body sizes, diets and work out routines I can hand on heart say that none of that stuff determined my happiness. Though if I had a pound for every person who claimed it did, I would own my flat.
We live in a society that loves to label. Fat, thin, lazy… You get the picture. What’s worse than the label is the assumption that goes with it. “She’s too fat/ thin to be happy” is up there with the most ridiculous. As a teenager I remember a guy telling me to watch the pounds as I started to get curvy, fast forward five years that same guy might say I was too thin. My point is, who cares? The only person that needs to be happy with your body is you and how other people feel about it is their business.
Living around the world from LA to Asia opened my eyes up to how diverse and magnificent our bodies are. From yoga and body building to giving birth, they are truly incredible. What we put in them (or don’t) and how we want them to look, feel and move is on us. I have friends of all shapes and sizes, some who love to live clean and others rarely touch a vegetable. What matters is you enjoy your lifestyle, not what someone else thinks of theirs.
Beauty and happiness go a lot deeper than your weight. The size of your body does not make you any kinder, jolly or confident than the next person. Losing pounds or gaining them will not change the way you feel about yourself, however many compliments it might bring. There is a glowing confidence of being comfortable in your own skin that transcends the size of your waist. And that doesn’t come the assumptions of others, it comes from self-love and doing what feels good for you.
We all have something different that gets us out of bed in the morning a job you love, your bonkers family, coffee with friends. Those are far more likely to bring you happiness than what you have for breakfast.
Maybe you want to make changes, maybe you don’t. I just want anyone who’s reading this to know you are absolutely perfect just the way you are. Whoever tells you otherwise needs a mirror. In the mean- time keep looking in your own and loving the person looking back at you, and whatever your size they will love you right back.
