It’s the beginning of a fresh new year, and you’ve made your resolutions. Always and forever, one of the biggest, most popular resolutions is to lose weight. I know it’s always one of mine! I find that my social media and news feeds are filled with this or that healthy dish and this or that workout plan. I also notice from talking with friends and co-workers that people are generally TOO hard on themselves, even though they have felt that they are “letting themselves go.”

I really want each of you to know that you are WORTH more than the pressure you apply to yourself to lose weight. You are worth more than the vanity sizing you wish to achieve. You’re worth more than the wedding dress you planned to squeeze yourself into. You’re worth more than that boy you are trying to impress.

I have faith in each and every one of you to get your health straightened out and make it a priority. I believe that if you put your mind to it and keep your heart in it, that you can lose the weight. I just want to make sure that you know that IT’S OKAY to love yourself at each and every size. You know what? It’s MORE than okay, it’s encouraged, it’s needed, it’s NECESSARY.

Top 7 Reasons to Love Yourself NOW & Not Just When You Love the Weight

1. Your friends and family love you.
   • No matter what size, they think you are wonderful and awesome.
2. If you don’t love yourself at each size/stage, you will miss out on so much.
   • If you are a size 16 at your wedding and you don’t love your self (or won’t ALLOW yourself to love yourself) until you are a size 10…you will have had such a beautiful, loving day that you spent a lot of time preparing for and a lot of money perfecting that won’t be special to you because you didn’t love yourself in that moment or at that size. It doesn’t go for just a wedding though, it goes for any important day!
3. Other people depend on your strength.
   • Whether it’s your best friend, your husband, your kids, your coworkers- someone depends on you. Love yourself so they will know how to love you! Treat yourself respectfully so you can receive that respect and love in return.
4. Self Love + Determination = Improvement
   • When you love yourself and you put your mind to something, you can achieve it. If you love yourself and put your mind to losing weight, you will get to each new level in your weight loss through that love for yourself and determination to lose the weight and get healthy!
5. Forgiveness will come.
   • To forgive yourself takes LOVE. You owe yourself forgiveness, so you should love yourself to get to that point. You may think “How is this love?” It’s love because your forgiveness means your acceptance. And your acceptance means love.
6. You will have a built in BFF.
   • Let’s face it: you can’t have a BFF you don’t love. If you love yourself, your body, your mind, you actions, then you will have a built in best friend for life.
7. You can celebrate the small victories!
   • If you are always focused on your one end goal, you won’t be able to sit back and celebrate the small victories. You logged your food for a whole week! You lost 5 pounds. You moved down a pants size! You comfortably fit into a booth at dinner! (Come on, you know that’s been an issue for some of you- me included.) If you love yourself, you will get the opportunity to celebrate yourself every step of the way.

So please, please LOVE YOURSELF FIRST. The rest of your life, love, relationships, friendships, jobs, goals, and WEIGHT LOSS will follow shortly. Just make sure you boost your self love to an all time high. I always think for myself “If I don’t love me. If I am not my biggest fan and support…who will be?”