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“Wow, you’ve lost weight, you’re looking great!”

This is the compliment so often given when people are starting to see the results of their healthy lifestyle. And I’m all for compliments. Celebrating and encouraging people is so wonderful. It helps them feel good about the choices they are making and for many, fuels their motivational fire! We all love a good compliment. It boost our ego in a lovely way.

I think at it’s core this compliment (or any compliment about body composition) is a desire to celebrate someone’s success – to acknowledge their hard work. Yay! I love that! Be an encourager. Never stop celebrating one another’s successes! But I invite you to change your approach.

Our society’s preoccupation with body weight is damaging our relationship with health, and it needs to stop.  The thin at all costs approach is manifesting in some pretty big extremes. What if we took the focus OFF the aesthetic benefits of a healthy lifestyle & placed it back ON the amazing health benefits? Shift the value ratio from the aesthetic to health. I’m not saying we can’t desire to look good. We all have ego and that is human nature. But when we can shift the ratio to weigh more heavily on the health side the long term outcomes are far greater.

So what can you do?

Next time you want to compliment someone on their outcomes consider one of the following:

  • You are totally ROCKING your fitness – way to go!
  • Dang you’re getting strong!
  • Your consistency with your fitness totally inspires me. Thank you!
  • Your dedication to eating healthy foods is incredible. Wow!
  • You are simply glowing. Your hard work is really paying off!

Do you have a compliment you LOVE to give that isn’t focused on aesthetic? Email me and I’ll add it to the list! Then get out there and spread the love & appreciation. Let’s acknowledge the heck out of one another for all the awesome choices we’re making!