Embrace Yourself Today

I made a simple little dessert tonight that I just had to share! I browned a tiny bit of "butter" (all I had was Smart Balance) – it was probably about a teaspoon full – and sautéed two diced peaches. Once the peaches were a tiny bit softened I sprinkled them with sugar in the raw and let it caramelize just a touch. I split the dessert into two bowls for the husband and I, then sprinkled with my buckwheat granola.

I must be honest. I thought up this dessert purely as another vessel upon which to sprinkle that addicting granola. Get in my belly!

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In other news, I did a lot of thinking on a solo five mile walk tonight, and decided to share my thoughts in honor of Caitlin and Operation Beautiful, and because they perfectly align with "change the way you see, not the way you look."

As most of you know, I’ve been going through some big life changes, which can mostly be summed up as I moved to pursue my dreams and go back to school for additional degrees. A big catalyst in these changes is my desire to be the best me now.

I’ve shared this in the past, and while I try not to focus on it here too much, I am trying to lose (and am in fact losing!) some weight. For a bit of time there I really let the newfound weight gain get in the way of my life. I couldn’t see *me* anymore when I saw myself physically. I wouldn’t go out and hang out with friends, let alone make new friends. I doubted myself as a "healthy living blogger". Who would read a health blog of a fat girl? How hypocritical! Speaking of hypocritical, how absurd that my passion was nutrition! If I thought about a fun outing to a state park or a family vacation, the first thing I thought of was how fat I’d look in the pictures, not about the joy of the actual experience. I convinced myself that I wasn’t worthy anymore. And I certainly stopped loving myself, which is a huge problem as I’ve always believed no one can love you unless you first love yourself.

What changed? I just decided to stop. I knew it wasn’t smart, healthy, or the real me to think like that. So I actively made an effort to change my thinking and how I saw myself.

• Stop calling yourself fat.
• Start realizing that, while it’s ok that you are trying to lose weight to get to a better spot health-wise, you are still beautiful now! Own your hotness!
• Stop convincing yourself you don’t deserve anything now.
• Start realizing you are worthy of it all! Whether it be the designer dress you’ve been lusting after or a pipe dream, you are worthy of it!
• Stop telling yourself no, or "not until I’m at xxx weight or size".
• Start going to new places and planning that next vacation!
• Stop secluding yourself.
• Start putting yourself out there. Start saying yes. Start being a friend.

You can do it, too. Embrace yourself today. Whether you think you can’t buy that bikini until you get a little more curvy, or you can’t go to the beach until you lose those last five pounds, just say no. You are good enough today. Whatever it is on your bucket list, your wish list, your "in time" dreams, do it now.

It’s time. It was time for me to move on from my negative self-talk and proactively make myself a more positive and more beautiful person from the inside out. It’s time for me to be the best wife I can be, the best friend, the best student, the best lover of life, the best me. It’s time for you to be the best you, too. Embrace yourself today. Be the best you now.