What do you love about your body?

Someone (er...rather maybe someblog) recently posed a great question:

What is the reason you get up in the morning?

Ok. So I've heard that before, but still. I'd always related it to your big picture life's passions and desires. Like, oh yes, I love my job or volunteering at a homeless shelter and that's why I get up in the morning....kittens and rainbows! I started thinking more literally.....why do I get up in the morning? What's going though my head?

I can say it used to be for food. Literally. At my heaviest weight I literally had the desire to wake up and eat corn syrup...well, any food like product with corn syrup. I wanted to get up and eat breakfast! And then lunch! And then snack! And then dinner!

Now, I answer the question with a different lens. Now morning is a new opportunity to be something great. A new day to make better decisions. A fresh take on who I want to be, and how I'm going to create myself though every decision into the person I want to be...which is...well...skinny. So ultimately, I realized that when I was heavy I wanted food....and now that I'm thinner, I don't want food....so I can get thinner. Isn't that a little off? I mean, it makes sense and all, but why is body image the first thing I think about after 'uuuughhh it's morning?" each time my alarm goes off? Isn't that a little troubling?

Yes. I think so. We are supposed to enjoy our bodies and feel fantastic, but we are constantly criticizing ourselves for never being good enough. I do think self-motivation is the only way to be who you want, but I think there is a line. A healthy balance between calorie in/calorie out.....between too many apples/too much chocolate....between work/play.....between self/others.

Balance. And all starts with taking care of yourself. Find ways to appreciate the day and find honest truths in your life. Two days ago, I bought a body+soul magazine from Whole Foods. I can't really afford extra splurges like this right now, but I am devouring and savoring each article, and it brings me back to who I want to be. Yesterday, I went to the gym, twice. And didn't think once about the commute being boring or what the staff who I might see twice would think (for the record, the first trip was a slow heavy lift and the second was a circuit training class) I loved it, because I did it for me.

Today, I'm going to name five things I really love about my body:

1. I love my eyes, with and without make-up.
2. I have killer scapula that make my back look ripped
3. I did not inherit the family cankels
4. I love how strong my muslces are, and how I deadlifted 205 pounds yesterday
5. And, I have killer hair. Naturally blonde with strawberry blonde highlights.

What can you celebrate today? What do you love about your body, your life?

Go ahead. You're definitely not being conceited. Don't you see, that's the problem! People tell us women that we can't have five things we love about our bodies. That instead we need to lose five pounds.

Shout it out sister! You're beautiful!