How to Lose Weight by Loving Your Body Better: from Allie Casazza

When my doctor told me that my blood sugar levels came back just over the cutoff and that I was considered “pre-diabetic,” I immediately joined Weight Watchers.  Although my weight is within normal range, my waist circumference puts me at higher risk for not only diabetes, but cancer and heart disease as well.  This was a wake-up call that I need to embrace a healthier lifestyle if I am going to get to live a full life on this planet.

So, for about a year I changed my eating habits.  I lost a small amount of weight, but my waist circumference didn’t budge.  I started yoga and eventually ballet, but still nothing was changing.  Except, I was now a part of an entire plethora of feminine life that I hadn’t ever experienced before: the group of women who have tried to lose weight.

I am very fortunate that I can say I never struggled with my weight, an eating disorder, or even hating my body as much as I did over this year of dieting (which WW insists is actually a lifestyle change).  Being immersed in conversations and culture that I hadn’t ever experienced was eye opening.  Most of my friends, I discovered, had used all sorts of “cleansing” diets, shakes, supplements, excessive exercise, or counting-calorie-type plans to lose weight over the years.  Every women I knew wanted to change her body in some way.  NO ONE WAS HAPPY WITH WHO THEY WERE.

And, I began to ask myself: is this the only way?  Is this the only way to actually lose weight?  I supposed that indeed you had to hate your body – at least a little – in order to motivate change.  I mean, have you ever met someone who started a weight loss program because they were already happy with themselves??  Of course not!

But, even after losing weight, the problem is, I was actually unhappier than I was before.  I HAD to think negatively about myself every time I chose spinach over chips, the yoga studio instead of a coffee date, and a hard boiled egg over a scone.  I had to say to myself, “This won’t get you where you want to go!  So, stay focused on your goal of being skinnier and don’t eat that dessert!”

When we train our minds to think AGAINST our bodies, that thinking pattern doesn’t change as soon as we lose that last 10 pounds.  As a matter of fact, that negative thinking is only strengthened because, after all, THAT’S what helped me get to where I am now.  “I have to keep thinking like this if I’m going to stay skinny.”

So, I’ve asked people if anyone knows a strategy for losing weight that actually involves being kind to yourself instead of criticizing yourself. 

God sent me the answer I was looking for.

Allie Casazza has a podcast called “The Purpose Show.”  She’s a Christian mama who teaches about minimilasm, and I have loved reading her emails and learning from her.  Most recently, her second episode of 2018 has given me exactly the tools I have been looking for and was titled, “How to Lose Weight by Loving Your Body Better.”

She posed the questions: “What do you love about your body?  And in light of that love, how will you treat your body better?”  Believe it or not, these answers aren’t as easy to come up with as their antonyms.  Nonetheless, here are my attempts:

I love that my body is capable of so many wonderful activities: dancing, laughing, tasting, playing, scrapbooking, painting, sex, reading, taking photos, listening to music, carrying my children on my back, driving, learning.  I am thankful that my ears can hear music, giggles, and fire alarms.  I am thankful that my eyes can see sunsets, my kids cute faces, and love notes from my husband.  I am thankful that my hands can mend, heal, touch, cook, play piano, and tickle my kiddos.  I am thankful that my organs are all cancer-free, functioning properly, and allowing me to simply enjoy life.  I am thankful that my mouth can taste chocolate, and chai lattes, and a good steak; and that it can speak the truth in love, offer encouragement, save my children from danger, and teach them about the world.  I am thankful that my nose can smell Christmas trees, and baby powder, and spring flowers, and David’s hair. 

This body does so much for me every day, and God sustains it and empowers it. 

In light of this place of gratitude, I don’t want to beat my body up.  I don’t want to purposefully damage it nor ignore it.  I don’t want to hate it or criticize it or constantly try to fix it and change it.  My body isn’t an ornament, it’s an instrument.  It’s something God can use, if I cooperate, for His purposes each and every day. 

So, I WANT to do yoga because it feels good and stretches these precious muscles.  And, I WANT to enjoy a chai with a friend at Starbucks while we share about our struggles and joys.  I WANT to walk more, play more, write more.  I want to savour the feeling of sand between my toes, the smell of autumn apple picking, and the sound of ocean waves crashing.  I want to scratch my hubbies back, even when he doesn’t ask for it, rub my kids feet when they’re I want to use my body in a way that brings life and joy to my family and my tribe.  I want to choose food that tastes good, sits well in my tummy, and fuels me for the next few hours of this precious life. 

This life isn’t a dress rehearsal; I don’t get a re-do.  And, the last thing I want to teach my two beautiful daughters is that they need to focus their lives on changing some aspect of their body that is totally trivial.  If I don’t model self-acceptance, gratitude for my body, and the self-care that follows from that love, my girls won’t either. 

This is for them.