A Letter From Your Body to You

"Hey, it's me, your body. We need to talk."

The answer to how you should go about accomplishing your fitness goals is easier to find than you think.

Your body has all the answers you need if you’re just willing to listen.

With that in mind, I wrote my idea of what a letter from your body might look like if it were able to write one independent of you.

The Letter

Hey,

It’s me, your body. It’s been awhile since we’ve talked.

I mean, we fight sometimes.

Like the time you had too much to drink and then singlehandedly took down a family sized nacho platter. We yelled at each other pretty good that night.

But that’s not the kind of talking I mean. We haven’t had really meaningful conversation in quite some time, and I miss that.

That’s why I’m writing this letter.

Remember when we were younger and didn’t care as much about what everyone thought of us? Sometimes it seems so long ago that I’m not even sure it was real.

Not that it was ever perfect. You did what you could with what you had and I helped you grow the only way I knew how. And we were fine with that. For awhile.

Now it seems like you’re just embarrassed by me.

Diet after crazy diet you try to force me to be something I’m not. Either that or you ignore me altogether. I’m not sure what’s worse.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad.

Remember the time you tried that weird juice/smoothie diet? Haha! I don’t think our bathroom has seen as many visits (or colors) in all the days since then combined.

We learned a lot through some of those more radical meal plans, but so far none of it has stuck, and I feel like you blame me.

To be honest, I’m tired of it.

I’m not mad (even if you’re mad at me). I just can’t do it anymore.

I don’t know if you’ve even noticed, but ever since that time you cut way back on calories… I’ve changed.

I know it’s different now, you’re eating more again, and maybe I should be ok with it, but I can’t just wave a magic wand and go back to how it was. I guess that’s why we’re finding it even more difficult to not put on weight this time.

I’m all about making change for the better — all I’ve ever wanted is what’s best for us. I’m not giving up.

But I need some time.

I know what you’re thinking, that this is my passive way of telling you it’s too late and we’ll never get where we want to be. But that’s not true.

Look, there’s something you need to know. It’s taken me some time to accept this, and I need you to get on board with it, too:

I am awesome.

I am awesome whether you realize it or not, and I want to be treated that way.

I’m capable of so much more than you give me credit for.

Sure, I could get better at some things, but that’s not the point. Until you realize just how amazing I already am, you won’t be able to treat me the way I deserve so I can make the changes we both want made.

But once you’re there with me, I’m ready.

That’s when I know you’ll be ready to take that journey with me we’ve always dreamed about.

We can conquer any obstacle, achieve any goal, and not get derailed by any setbacks. Because we’ll be in it for the right reasons.

We can go at our own pace this time and take care of each other along the way.

If you promise to just communicate, check in with me, and set up realistic expectations, I know we can be happy with each other again.

I’m in this for the long haul.

Are you?

With Love,

Your Body

P.S. I don’t expect an answer right away, but I do hope to hear from you soon. It’s been too long.

A Final Word

We all have different bodies with our own unique strengths and weaknesses.

It would be ridiculous to think that a letter from your body would look exactly like one from mine.

That said, I don’t think it’s out of the question that some of the subject matter of all our letters would be similar, which is why I hope you can learn from the perspective I took in this creative piece.

If we all paid a little more attention to how we treat our bodies, we’d be in a much healthier place.