Perception is Everything

So as Danny and I try to get motivated to start our healthy eating and workout regimes since we decided we are done "spoiling" ourselves after the wedding, I find myself trying to comprehend my outlook on life and how I want to live it going forward.  Danny has been especially interested this time around (usually I always have to convince him) and it's refreshing.  As I eat my fruit on the bottom yogurt with the added chia seeds I picked up at the store, I reflect back on my journey and where I am now.  For the first time in my life, I don't have a time frame on my body.  I can live in the now and not look to the future.  Many times when I've set a weight loss goal for myself, I always had an end date on it.  The wedding diet was a big one.  If I could just get to March 16th, I will be be able to eat that piece of cake, those cookies, those carbs (insert unhealthy food here), I would say to myself.  Now that Danny and I are settling into our lives as husband and wife, it feels invigorating because I know that there is no time frame on it.  I don't have to go crazy with my diet and exercise.  I can just live for today and be the best that I can be.  I've spent too much of my life dreaming about being a better version of myself physically, but I've found that I will never be happy that way. I will only be happy if I accept who I am now, so that when I become a healthier version in the future, I appreciate it.  I've struggled with this a lot because after losing 20 lbs for the wedding, I still saw myself as the slightly overweight girl that I was before I started losing the weight.  Even after the wedding, I have kept off the majority of the weight, but I still feel like I'm not healthy.  I truly believe perception is everything and that's why I think its so important to live with myself today instead of hoping for the future.

Can I add "Healthier than you think" to the list?

I came across a blogpost from The Aspiring Southern Housewife who wrote Size Doesn't Matter.  This was a great post and if you have a few minutes, read it.  She mentions a site called, Size Wise which tests how well you know your size.  I took the online quiz and I was shocked with my body perception.  I was 5% smaller than I thought I was! Check out the Size Wise quiz and let me know what you think.

Another interesting read I came across was a book by Kjerstin Gruys called, "Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body by Not Looking at It for a Year".  I highly recommend this book because it will change the way you not only look at your own body, but how society shapes our perception of our bodies.

As far as my journey to a healthy lifestyle, I've realized that it's not a journey, it's life.  It has to be a part of my daily life.  I want to live each day as me and be happy with where I'm at today instead of hoping for a better tomorrow.