How Positive or Negative Reinforcements Can Help you Celebrate Your Body in Every Season

How can you expect to love your body in every season and phase if you have never even given yourself the opportunity to?

If you have only ever loved your body when she is stage lean, in prep mode, or shredding down, how can you love her when she is not?

Many competitors tell me about all the parts of their body they hate, can't stand looking at, or even how uncomfortable they are when it is time for check ins, to weigh in, take measurements, or just look in the mirror--especially if they aren't in prep or haven't been 'perfect' with their plan.

I never wonder why though

Most women, from an early age, are taught only to celebrate results if they are trending in the direction of the ideal standard they are seeking to meet

Celebrating the weight, inches, and body fat dropping or berating yourself, hating on yourself, or judging yourself for the weight, inches, or body fat going up are all forms of reinforcement

Stepping on the scale becomes this trigger for either a positive or negative situation

You either celebrate or you get down on yourself

It's much like a dog. The dog associates the owner's command with a trigger for either a positive reward (cheers, petting, and a treat) or negative reinforcement (no treat, noooos or frustration). When the outcome is positive, the dog is more likely to do that again and again

We condition ourselves similarly

So you can either stop the reinforcements altogether or reinforce equally at any stage

If you want to step away from the constant stress, worry, or inadequate feelings that come from your body, you have to be willing to remove the emotions and create new reinforcements

Rather than looking in the mirror with a critical eye, you may see functions or facts

Rather than stepping on the scale hoping for a lower number, you may step on the scale knowing you already have so much to be proud of and the physical results will come and you have to be fair with consideration of ALL data points

Rather than celebrating drops, just acknowledge it as data
Rather than hating on gains, just acknowledge it as data

Use the data to reflect, learn, and apply yourself

But above all else, celebrate your body every day for how she shows up for you, her functions, and how she unconditionally shows up for you every day regardless of her size or shape

The more you can celebrate your body for what she does and the more you can celebrate and focus on you doing your best to support her in that and honor yourself in your goals, the less the number on the scale will mean to you

No emotional reaction

If there is an emotional response, then choosing a new reinforcement, belief, or thought process around it in the moment to begin rewiring the pathways

But you can't expect to love your body in every phase when you refuse to love your body for more than her aesthetics

She deserves more recognition than that and you deserve more than a life consumed by thoughts of how your thighs look, your stomach feels, or what the battery operated scale is going to have to say this time

In June I am hosting a private workshop for my On-Demand Mindset Coaching Platform Members & all my clients on this topic. If you join the on-demand mindset coaching platform before the first week of June, you will be able to come on LIVE with us :)
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I host these monthly live group calls to go over what people need, are proud of, have learned, and then usually a focus topic--June's will be on detaching from weight and capitalizing on conditioning through positive and negative reinforcement awareness

You can learn more about the On-Demand Mindset Coaching Platform for Competitors HERE

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