I’ve enjoyed reading through the goals you’ve set and the reasons motivating you to take part in this challenge! An overwhelming majority has weight-related goals, which was to be expected. Weight gain and many health problems are the normal result of self-deprivation. I remember being younger and judging older women about “letting themselves go”. I was an aerobics instructor and fit as a fiddle. One day a lady came to my class and told me she also used to be an aerobics instructor when she was younger. As I looked her over I thought, “Wow! I’M never going to let myself get THAT out of shape!”. Now here I am in her exact situation… never to judge again! You see when we “let ourselves go”, it’s because we are holding on to too many other things, so we lose grip on ourselves! I need to “get a grip” on my health, but in order to do that I’ll need to let go of some other stuff. More on that in the upcoming weeks.
In order to create permanent changes on the outside we need to address stuff on the inside. So why start this challenge with the body and not the soul? Our bodies are the reflection of our inner state. When things go wrong with the body that’s the alarm sounding to stop and deal with stuff. If our bodies didn’t have this alarm system we would go on abusing it and neglecting ourselves. So we are starting with our bodies in response to this alarm.
This week we will try to objectively appreciate our bodies for what they are, the good and the bad. It is self-assessment week. Put a spotlight on your best features; what you love the most about your body. Then reflect on the condition of your health and how that affects you.
Try to detach yourself emotionally from your body and look at it objectively. Imagine that you are your own daughter. See all the potential you have. Look at a photo of yourself as if it was another person. Compliment this person. Be graceful towards her. If you were a doctor examining this person, what would you say about their health? What would you recommend?
I’ve included a few worksheets in the Beautiful Me add-on freebie to assist you in your weight loss / management efforts:
– Weekly Planner: Includes a daily menu planner, water intake record, grocery list, and a spot to record calories or points.
– Emotional Eating: Record the triggers for emotional eating and alternate things you could do or sources of comfort.
– Habits: Record habits to improve and steps to improving those habits.
THE CHALLENGE: Create a split page layout (split any way you want). One side will focus on your best physical feature and the other will focus on the condition of your health and how that affects you, whether it be good or bad.
Journal about how you feel about your health
Please post your layouts in our LOVE YOURSELF Gallery and tally them in the LOVE YOURSELF layouts forum
BUT WAIT!!!! There’s MORE!
We are combining this challenge with the Art Journal challenge, so you can actually do both with one single layout! If art journaling is not your thing, then you can simply stick to the challenge as outlined above, but if you want more chances to win a prize, simply add-on the requirements from the Art Journal forum to your layout and it will qualify forBOTH challenges!! Isn’t that AWESOME!
PRIZES: 3 lucky participants will be randomly selected to win a 5$ gift card to my shop! Participation points will accumulate, so even if you don’t win this time around, you’ll increase your chances of winning the grand prize!
Double Dipping participants (who also complete the Art Journal requirements) will qualify for another random draw for a 3$ gift card to my shop!
I designed the newly released Beautiful Me elements and Big and Beautiful paperswith this week’s challenge in mind! Also, TLP Polly Amanda Resende created a set ofBeautiful Me printable journal cards! They are available this weekend at a 20% discount! Don’t miss the fabulous FREE add-on I’ve included below!
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