self worth

This morning I was reading this blog, which had a post about weight.

At the end of the post the writer posed the question: do you guys find that your happiness & peace fluctuates along with your weight?

I found myself compelled to comment on this and once I was done I felt like sharing those words here too:

I used to base my self worth upon my weight (which was never good enough) and the saddest part is that those are the type of thoughts that lead people to disordered eating. Exercise (and spirituality) actually helped me to change those thoughts. As I worked on becoming a better dancer (in college), learned to love running (I am running my first marathon in June!), and improved my relationship with God, I began to see that my body, no matter what it's shape or weight, no matter how much I hated my knees, my body was a gift from God, given to me in love that I had stewardship to take care of (aka eat healthy and exercise). I also began to see my body as a tool to help me accomplish things. If I want to continue to use my body to run, dance, clean my house, one day have babies, and most importantly to serve others I need to love it, take care of it, and not set stringent standards on what is acceptable or beautiful and what is not. No matter how much weight you lose, you are still not in control of your specific body type, and so many other factors, so just as you say, before you even begin to lose weight or change your life you must change your heart. You have to give yourself love.