I’ve been involved in the wellness space for over 25 years and while many things have changed there’s one thing that has remained the same…most women, at least the ones I’ve come in contact with–are dissatisfied with their bodies. In fact, I don’t think a day has ever gone by in all the years that I’ve been training women, where someone hasn’t said something negative about their body.  Let’s face it, it’s hard to find a woman in this culture who feels comfortable in her own skin. We’re bombarded with so many images of thinness and perfection that women, regardless of their weight, are often unhappy with our bodies. We stand in front of their mirrors, on top of scales–

judging, complaining and sometimes crying about how our legs are too big, hips are too wide or stomachs are too round. The result: we not only end up hating our body, but the person that resides within as well.

Let’s face it, if we liked our bodies or ourselves, we wouldn’t jump in and out of fad diets or engage in incessant negative self-talk. And the sad thing is that we often cling to diets despite overwhelming evidence that diets don’t work. In fact, diets turn us into compulsive eaters obsessed with food and weight. Sound familiar?

So how do we work on healing ourselves from this seemingly never-ending cycle? Well, there’s a myriad of ways. But for starters we can stop playing the ‘comparison game’. When Roosevelt famously asserted: ‘comparison is the thief of joy’, he couldn’t have been more correct. Making comparisons can be harmful and detract from our own happiness. Research suggests that drawing comparisons between ourselves and others, gives us a biased account of our own skills and experiences.

There is only one you… and no one is better at being you then, well— you.

When you start to accept this fact—I mean really accept this fact, then you’ll begin to see a shift in how you view yourself. You’ll feel more empowered to stay in your own lane and not be as influenced by what others are doing or what they look like. As Dr. Suess says “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”