Simple Living : Healthy is the New Skinny!

I'm not fat

But I feel

So Heavy,
I feel my arms jiggle,
I feel too big
Uncomfortable in my own skin,
I am not fat,
But I feel
So Heavy,
I wish I weighed
Nothing at all.

As I waited for the Zumba Class to begin, one of the older Indian Aunty sidles up to me and whispers in my ears "Beta (child) you have put some weight on your rear-end...haven't you? ". My confident stance and can-do-it attitude withers away for one song as I try to sneak a peek at the above-mentioned body part. It takes me another song to drill the mantra into my head "it ain't not matter what the other person says...think yourself beautiful"

Only one in seven Americans feels “body positive.”... It takes women half their lives to achieve half the level of body self-esteem as the average teenage male -- a whopping 66% of teenage girls are either body negative or body ambivalent...Ouch!  (Source : Yahoo Health). It took me forty years to get there and there are days when all I am doing is looking at the imperfections without counting the blessings (getting from a Size 14 to a Size 4 and maintaining it for 3 years takes discipline & commitment).I have realized in the past year that it's more important to take care of your "body, spirit and mind" combined vs. just lose weight.It boils down to a few things I have been talking about consistently :

1. Eat Well - You are what you Eat
2. Get Enough Sleep
3. Move your body throughout the day
4. Interact Socially - isolation is not good for the body, soul or spirit
5. Pick a Hobby (something other than work ;-) )
6. Practice Gratitude

Ending this with something borrowed - something I am definitely planning to practice in 2016 !!!