Whole 30: Day 11 – Celebrating Yourself Now
One of my favorite things to do is have parties and celebrate. There is something about people gathering together to celebrate someone’s life, weddings, holidays, historical events, and achievements. Celebration acts as a catalyst for us to stop, reflect, and appreciate the big and the little things. Celebration brings joy, purpose, peace, love and affirmation. Celebration reminds us what is truly important in life.
Personally, I believe celebration is fundamental to the continual pursuit and victory in the area of holistic health. Too often do we only celebrate ourselves when we’ve reached that ultimate and final weight-loss goal, or that specific weight for a benchpress, or even when we fit in to our high school jeans. I would argue that by only celebrating yourself when you’ve reached your ultimate goals is an extreme detriment to your mind, self-worth, self-efficacy, and honestly, those very same goals you wish to ultimately achieve.
It breaks my heart when I hear that someone dislikes their body because they’ve only lost 5lbs instead of the 15lbs they want to lose. It breaks my heart when I see beautiful women inside and out, talk about themselves in disgust because they aren’t where they want to be physically. It breaks my heart when men pursue weight gain and muscle definition to impress other men and the ladies. Honestly, it breaks my heart when we ultimately define ourselves by our “great” achievements rather than who we are and the little milestones we have taken towards bettering our lives and health.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there and sometimes still go there. It’s almost like I’ve been conditioned to believe that it’s only when I achieve a goal, that I have value or will get the affirmation I crave from others. But my brothers and sisters, that is not true for me nor for you. We are worth more than what we do or what we don’t do. If you ask a loved one, they will tell you that. If you look at Jesus, He will show you that. Yet, it’s too hard for us to believe because at the core, we are all guilty in someway, at some point of permitting celebration or assigning self-worth only when we have succeeded in meeting our goals.
Well, to fight this incorrect ideology, I am going to stop and celebrate today – in particular, celebrate by reflecting on what has happened so far on the first ten days of Whole 30 and on what’s happened in my health journey this year. Here’s a list of these things:
My First 10 Days of Whole 30
- I’m recovering quicker from intense workouts.
- I haven’t had a major reaction to any food I’ve eaten.
- I’ve tried new recipes and thoroughly enjoyed them (my husband did too!)
- I feel more appreciative of my body and what it can do
- I’ve gone to bed earlier because my body has told me it’s tired earlier
- I’ve blogged about my experience each day here
- I’ve been hearing what my body is saying it needs in regards to fuel and nutrition
- I’ve encouraged others to do Whole 30 and have tried my best to encourage them
- I’ve said no to sugar!
- I’ve said yes to allowing my body to heal and reset for the past 10 days and the 20 to come
My Health Journey in 2015
- I signed up for my health coaching course and am LOVING IT!
- I’ve dreamt and planned out ways to assist others in their health journeys
- I’ve gotten my first pull-up, handstand pushup, toes-to-bar, consecutive double unders, and have improved in various workouts and movements in Crossfit
- I’ve started drinking Apple Cider Vinegar and Kombucha to add probiotics to my digestive health
- I’ve allowed myself the freedom to eat and enjoy real food as a way to care for myself, instead of consoling myself
What can YOU celebrate about yourself today? Take a moment and reflect on this question. Feel free to comment here if you would like or make your own personal list. Also check out Whole30’s non-scale victories list here for some ways you can celebrate yourself, other than what the scale says!
Make the discipline of celebration just as important as the discipline of drinking water, sleeping, and exercise. You will come to see how important it is to your mind, soul, and overall well-being.
So my friend, I end with celebrating YOU because you are simply amazing. There’s no debate with that, so don’t argue with me. The fact is that you are, without a question, amazing.
