Topics: Body Acceptance Tips, Overcoming Body Shame, Body Confidence, Body Neutrality

 

Overcoming Body Shame & Body Acceptance Tips…

 

What if body acceptance started NOW…not after the diet, not in a few years, but in this very moment.

Welcome to Part 3, the final Part of the Intuitive Wellness Series – where we’re breaking down the blocks that stop you from feeling good about food, fitness and your body.

In this last part, we’re talking about how to reconnect with your body to FINALLY let go of that shame, guilt and discomfort that’s lurking from years of criticism and comparison.

 

In this episode:

 

• Real Talk on Body Connection: why tuning into your body—not fighting it—is your first step toward genuine self-acceptance and lasting wellness.

 

• Ditching Hidden Sabotage: I share the subtle, everyday behaviors that might be holding you back and offer down-to-earth tips to overcome them.

 

• Everyday Empowerment Rituals: Learn REAL strategies, from cutting down on mirror time to infusing your mornings with mindful movement and affirmations, to help you celebrate your body right now.

 

If you missed parts one and two of the Intuitive Wellness Series, make sure to go back and listen—they set the stage for today’s conversation.

 

Listen for a complete shift in how you think about body confidence!

 

 

 

LISTEN TO NEXT
Part 1: Intuitive Fitness
Part 2: Intuitive Nutrition

 

RESOURCES

7 Steps to Feel Good Nakd book
The Rio Home Workout Plan
Podcast Mentorship

 

CONNECT
Instagram: @itschardet

 

 

MORE ABOUT THIS BODY ACCEPTANCE PODCAST EPISODE

 

“It’s about accepting your body even if it doesn’t look the way you want, as the only way to move forward with sustainable fitness goals.” – Chardét Ryel

 

• How can I build body confidence without focusing on my appearance?
• What are some body acceptance tips for overcoming negative self-talk?
• How does body neutrality differ from body acceptance, and which approach might work best for me?
• What are the reasons for body shame and how can I heal them?

 

Have you ever wondered why, despite all your efforts, your fitness resolutions seem to crumble under the weight of self-doubt? Do you sometimes feel trapped in a cycle of negative self-talk that keeps you from achieving the body confidence you deserve? If you’re ready to break free from the rollercoaster of yo-yo dieting and embrace lasting change, this might be the wake-up call you need.

Welcome to the final part of our Intuitive Wellness Series, where we dive deep into overcoming body shame and cultivating body acceptance. In this episode, we explore how reconnecting with your body can unlock sustainable wellness. Instead of chasing an elusive ideal, we’re shifting focus to nurturing what you have today—because true transformation starts with embracing yourself.

 

Reconnecting With Your Body

Think about the last time you truly listened to your body. When we’re caught up in the hustle of dieting and chasing after perfection, we often lose touch with our physical selves. Reconnecting with your body isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the foundation for achieving real, sustainable fitness goals. When you honor your body’s signals, you begin to appreciate its strengths, resilience, and natural beauty. This connection paves the way for genuine body confidence and helps you make choices that support your overall health, rather than those dictated by fleeting trends.

 

The Sabotage of Negative Self-Talk

It’s no secret that negative body image can be a major barrier to building body confidence. Many of us have, at one time or another, been our own harshest critics. Constantly comparing ourselves to unrealistic standards and scrutinizing every imperfection can lead to sabotaging behaviors. Whether it’s over-exercising to “fix” what we perceive as flaws or falling into cycles of binge eating, this destructive mindset keeps us stuck in a loop.

Imagine this: instead of celebrating what your body does for you, you spend your days fixating on the things you think are “wrong.” That inner critic not only erodes your self-esteem but also fuels habits that make it nearly impossible to sustain healthy behaviors. Overcoming body shame means shifting that narrative. It’s about replacing self-criticism with self-compassion—acknowledging your journey and valuing every step of progress, no matter how small.

 

Discovering Practical Body Acceptance Tips

So, how can you start overcoming body shame and foster lasting body confidence? Here are some body acceptance tips that can help reframe your mindset and empower you to love yourself exactly as you are:

 

• Wear Clothes That Fit You Now: Stop waiting to fit into old outfits or chasing a past image. Instead, choose clothes that celebrate your current shape and make you feel confident and comfortable.

 

• Create Safe Spaces: Surround yourself with environments where you feel accepted. Whether it’s a supportive community or simply a mental safe space where your body is appreciated, these moments can reinforce positive self-image.

 

• Limit Body Checking: If you find yourself frequently checking your reflection, try to minimize this behavior. Constant scrutiny only reinforces negative thoughts. Focus on how your clothes feel and how your body supports you throughout the day.

 

• Embrace Movement for Joy: Instead of exercising solely to change your appearance, engage in physical activities that make you feel alive—be it yoga, dancing, or a mindful walk. Remember, movement is about connecting with your body, not punishing it.

 

• Celebrate Your Marks and Imperfections: Think of your stretch marks, dimples, or scars not as flaws, but as beautiful testaments to your journey. I’ve carried stretch marks on my thighs for over twenty years, and rather than hiding them, I now see them as symbols of my strength and perseverance.

 

These body acceptance tips are more than just actions—they’re habits that nurture self-love and help you develop lasting body confidence.

 

The Power of Positive Conversation

What we say about our bodies—and what we say about others’ bodies—shapes how we see ourselves. When compliments focus solely on transformation after a diet or on how someone should dress to hide their “flaws,” it reinforces a damaging narrative. Instead, why not celebrate the strengths and uniqueness of every body? Positive body talk can transform your self-perception. When you shift your focus from criticism to genuine appreciation, you begin to see beauty in every curve, every mark, and every line.

Consider this: when you compliment a friend, try highlighting qualities like resilience, energy, or the way they carry themselves. It’s a small change, but it can have a profound impact on both their self-esteem and your own body image.

 

A Personal Journey: Overcoming Sabotaging Behaviors

I’ve been there—living in a cycle where negative body image fueled every decision, from overtraining to binge eating. I remember my time in Argentina vividly. Surrounded by young girls living on coffee and cigarettes, I felt so self-conscious about my own body. I compared myself harshly to their thin frames, even though looking back, I now know I was at a healthy weight for me. That experience was a harsh reminder of how distorted our self-view can be when influenced by external pressures.

This awareness led me to break free from those sabotaging behaviors. By listening to my body and accepting it for all its imperfections, I learned to fuel my strength and energy without the constant battle against self-doubt. It’s this journey of overcoming body shame that I share with you—to inspire you to rewrite your own story.

 

Integrating a Morning Ritual for Body Acceptance

One of the most powerful ways to start your day with positivity is to create a morning ritual that reinforces body acceptance. Here are five ideas to integrate into your morning routine:

 

Affirmations for Self-Love: Begin each day by affirming your worth. Simple statements like “I love and accept my body as it is” can set a positive tone.

 

Gratitude Journaling: Write down what you’re grateful for about your body—its strength, flexibility, and ability to move.

 

Mindful Movement: Incorporate gentle stretching or yoga to reconnect with your body and set an intention for the day.

 

Visualization Techniques: Spend a few minutes visualizing a day free from body shame, where you feel comfortable and confident.

 

Positive Media Consumption: Start your day with uplifting content—a motivational podcast, an empowering quote, or a short video that celebrates body positivity.

 

These practices are not just about morning rituals; they’re about setting the stage for a day of self-acceptance and unwavering body confidence.

 

Your Path to Sustainable Wellness

True wellness isn’t about chasing a perfection that doesn’t exist; it’s about embracing your body and nurturing it from within. By integrating these insights and body acceptance tips into your daily life, you can break free from the cycle of yo-yo dieting and overcome body shame. When you approach your fitness goals from a place of self-love and acceptance, you create a foundation that supports sustainable progress and lasting body confidence.

Ready to rewrite your wellness story? If you’re tired of the constant battle with negative self-image and are eager to discover a new, intuitive approach to health, I invite you to listen to the full Feel Good Nakd episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Let’s start this journey together—embrace your body, celebrate your unique beauty, and unlock the food freedom and sustainable fitness you deserve. Your path to true wellness starts here.

✨ Keep Feeling Good Nakd! ✨

 

 

 

 

Transcript on Body Acceptance 

 

Chardet Ryel (00:02.109)
This is part three of the intuitive wellness series. And in this episode, we’re going to go deep into finding more body confidence and more body acceptance in ways that you didn’t think about. So I’ll be sharing with you some ways to kind of rethink how you connect to your body. Some sabotaging behaviors you might not even realize you’re doing that’s stopping you from feeling good in it. And then some habits to help you slowly really build up.

that self-esteem and security in your body. We are gonna go through all of it very quickly in this episode. This is again, part three of the intuitive wellness series showing you a different way to health. If you missed part one and two on fitness and nutrition, make sure you go back and listen to them. What’s interesting here with this series is I meant to record this one several weeks ago.

And the twist of all twists of the universe is that when I was going to record this one, I actually got really ill. And it was a reminder of what it feels like when your body is working against you instead of for you. When it feels like everything you want to do, it’s stopping you. Or it feels like it’s this

big heavy thing that you just don’t want to lug around and you just want to separate somehow. It was a reminder of that because that feeling I had mostly gotten past from some of the tactics and techniques we’ll talk about in this episode. But when you are ill and your body is doing things that you don’t want it to, it’s that feeling of helplessness again. And so it was a really interesting reminder of what it’s like

to be in a position where you feel like you’re doing all these healthy and positive habits and you’re telling yourself that you can change your mindset, but it just lingers and it feels like nothing is making a difference. And the body confidence journey is kind of a lot like that in that when I got ill, I really thought this was, I don’t even know what kind of flu it was.

Chardet Ryel (02:23.192)
followed by this horrible cough where I couldn’t sleep and I was coughing so much I was, you know, throat gagging. It was similar in that I thought, okay, every day I’m gonna get a little better. That’s how you heal, right? Every day you get a little bit better. But it’s not actually a linear journey because I had moments where I thought I was getting better and I wasn’t coughing and I felt really good and then I would just go back and have an entire night where I didn’t stop.

and so much that I couldn’t even speak because my throat was tied up. It’s the same way with this journey that the getting better is so small, sometimes you don’t even notice it. And sometimes you feel like you’re going so far backwards that you don’t ever know if you’ll get ahead. And so I want to be compassionate to that and tell you that if you feel that way, you are not alone.

It’s having faith and confidence in your body that you will eventually get there. So let’s go through some of the ways to do that. Now, first, I’ll talk about the body connection. Then I’ll talk about some habits that can help you. And then I’ll also give you a little insight into some of the sabotaging behaviors that we get stuck in. So first, let’s talk about body connection.

Chardet Ryel (04:01.842)
In, this is the biggest thing that is missing when it comes to acceptance and confidence. It’s impossible for you to feel good in your body if you have this separation from it. And a lot of the things we do like dieting, like overtraining, like ignoring our internal cues of when to eat or when to stop exercising. All of those force us to disconnect.

And even when we exercise, some of us, don’t actually connect to our body. We just zone out. And when you do that, you are perpetuating this feeling of I am good enough when I look a certain way. Because if you are not connected to your body, of course your standard of judgment is going to be what does it look like? And oftentimes we decide that based on comparison. So the big thing here is reconnecting.

And when you reconnect, you have one of two things that happen. Either you get body neutrality, which I would argue is what most of us have most of the time. That’s when you don’t have these negative views about your body necessarily. You’re just kind of neutral about it. And you understand that caring for your body and the habits that you need to do are to support it, not necessarily to change it.

Already you might feel like, okay, that’s not something that I do. Body acceptance is going a bit further. It’s saying, okay, my body is good the way that it is right now. I am fine with it. You can still want to change your strength. You can still want to improve the way that you do things, but fundamentally you are okay with how it is now. And the irony is that it’s very hard

hard to get sustainable fitness transformations and really make habits stick if you can’t first shift to this body acceptance or at least neutrality. Because if you’re just running on body shame or hate or comparison, that will tire you out. And at some point, your brain is going to react and say, no, we don’t want to do this anymore.

Chardet Ryel (06:26.254)
We’re gonna eat more foods, we’re gonna get sick, we’re not gonna exercise. All of those things are gonna work against you. So the funny but not so funny thing is getting to this point of acceptance even if you’re not happy where you are now.

And I know that that’s a really hard thing to do. But honestly, it’s the same with anything you do in life. In your career, if you can’t be present in the job you’re in now and the work you’re doing now, it is hard for you to show up the best you possibly can. If you’re always living for the next promotion, the next thing, it’s very hard for you to have sustainable fulfillment. And so we see it in every other part of our lives, but for some reason with our bodies, we don’t see it.

happening. So the first step here really is, can I get to a point where at the very least, I am happy to do the behaviors that support my body from the food I eat to the exercise I do just because I know that it supports me, not necessarily because it changes me. That is continual work. That is continual work. From there, we kind of

Can’t learn.

Chardet Ryel (07:45.75)
what you can work on from there. And I want to give, I guess, an example here. It’s like this.

Let me give you an example. So if you think about if you’re developing any skill, let’s say you’re developing this skill of writing. In the beginning, you are going to be very self-critical. You’re not going to like what you are writing down. You’re going to feel like the words are so bad. You are going to compare it to other people who are way further along than you. If you can’t get to a point where you’re happy to just keep showing up,

and keep doing this, trusting the process that eventually you will get to the point where you will be quote unquote good, then you’re never gonna have the practice, the refinement, establishing the habits to ever get good. And so a lot of us, what we do is just like the novice writer that never gets past that learning stage. We continue to criticize our very basic entry level work, which is, you you’re doing fitness, you’re doing whatever you’re doing.

instead of accepting that this is going to get better for me, but I can’t just focus on the end goal. I have to focus on what I’m doing right now. Some of the things that get in the way are certain behaviors that you might not even realize. One of the biggest ones that is obvious are things like criticizing your body. I hate my arms. I hate my thighs. I don’t like the stretch marks.

Anything you draw attention to, you are gonna focus on again and again. We know this to be true. If you think about something, you see it everywhere. So if you’re always thinking about your flaws, then you are always going to see them and obsess about them. And it’s gonna be really hard to find the motivation to embrace your body and to shift away from always trying to change it.

Chardet Ryel (09:48.172)
Now, other subtle things that you might not realize you’re doing are things like body checking. Body checking I always used to do. And this is when you pass a mirror and you look. Now, it’s not I’m looking to see how my outfit is or checking my hair or I’ve been outside all day sweating and I just want to see what it looks like. It’s I’m checking because I need to look at my body because I feel insecure in some way.

And it’s a lot throughout the day. You’ll notice it if you start counting. The other part of that could be things like just gripping the fat around your belly or your arms, jiggling your arms, like all of this stuff is body checking and it’s a compulsive behavior that we do often that again reinforces, I am not happy with what I have. And that is what I’m going to obsess with. The scarcity of what I don’t have instead of how I can move forward.

It’s also things like certain clothing that you wear that hides everything. You’re not wearing it because it’s comfortable or because it flatters your shape. You’re wearing it because it hides every single thing. And if you are doing that, again, you are disconnecting from your body. This is why I will always say to people, please don’t wait to go shopping until you are the right size.

because you are gonna spend all this time suffering between then and now. If you even get to that point versus if you start now, you if you’re putting on clothes that make you feel good already, then it’s a lot easier to show up for yourself to feel good. I’m telling you, when you feel okay in your body, it’s a lot easier to exercise. It’s a lot easier to go for certain kinds of foods. If you are driven by shame, you are driven by comparison,

You’re lugging a huge bag of resistance behind you with every habit you try to do. And this is why so many people break down and they can’t continue on.

Chardet Ryel (12:04.746)
Another kind of sabotaging behavior you might not recognize as much as comparison. So this could be simple like you look at someone and say, I wish I had her legs, but it’s not the sense of appreciating her legs. It’s really degrading your own. It could also be, you know, you’re out with friends and you comment on someone else’s body. The big rule of thumb here is don’t ever comment on anyone’s body because

Not only is it detrimental to them, it also reinforces in your mind what is good and what is bad. And that is a really sneaky one that we don’t think about. Now that I’ve been in this field for over 10 years, I notice it in conversation all the time. It is pervasive when you see how much we talk about other people’s bodies and how much it reinforces perfection, not just for them.

but for us as well. Drawing inspiration from what someone has achieved is very different from directing envy, which brings you down. And that’s kind of a distinction to work on. Now there’s also like small things that we say. So for example, I had a, I was visiting my family and my mom who I grew up with and has always been very body neutral. I have always felt

you know, none of my body issues came from her because she never talked about this stuff. But as she’s gotten older and she hasn’t been as much involved in fitness and it has been harder for her, I see her commenting on her body a lot more. And she said something to me, which I had kind of a very passionate reaction, but I think it reinforces what I’m trying to share with you here.

I had said that I was getting rid of my YouTube workouts that I used to have when I was a trainer because a lot of them really reinforced dieting stereotypes like getting slimmer thighs, etc. And I didn’t want them to be available anymore because it would take massive edits. There’s some of them which are fine, but other ones, the thumbnails, it just makes it visually not great for people to see. And she was saying to me, well,

Chardet Ryel (14:26.306)
You should save your workouts because you will appreciate how you looked 10 years from now.

And I said, well, I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want to be the person who lives in their body from my memories. I don’t want to be the person who looks back on my own videos of years ago and feels like, I wish I had that body still. I don’t want to be that person. I want to be the person in my 50s, 60s and 70s who’s active and happy, who recognizes that yes, my body is different, but it’s okay.

And if I look back on those videos, I wanted to be like, this was my career and this was a fun workout. But it’s small comments like that, that keep us really trapped in this idea of what our body should be. And these seem harmless. They seem like they don’t matter. But imagine if I was someone who was really self-conscious and really obsessed with my body like I used to be. That would be a comment which would make me think and obsess a lot.

I’d probably go back and see my even older videos to see how has my body changed. So we have to be so mindful, not just of what we say, but also what other people are saying to you that can kind of reinforce this. And if you stop and think, is there someone in your life who you notice says this stuff, either to you or about other people? Just starting to be aware of that.

The last thing that can be really a sabotaging behavior or mindset when it comes to trying to find confidence is body dysmorphia. And this is why most of us get stuck in yo-yo dieting. It’s why we over exercise. It’s why we can’t just be comfortable with how we are. And I would say that 90 % of all fitness influencers and professionals have body dysmorphia and probably

Chardet Ryel (16:29.678)
almost 100 % have had it, myself included. Because when you’re in an industry that really emphasizes perfection, it’s hard to ever see yourself there. And I have known so many trainers that are just in the kind of shape that would be on women’s health, men’s health magazine, and they feel crap in their bodies. They don’t wanna wear certain clothes.

they freak out if they have a day where they had pizza. Even though to the outside eye, you would say, okay, you would be on a magazine cover. Because the way that they look is not the way that they see themselves. And this is really the tricky thing is it’s very hard for you to be objective about the way that your body actually looks because you have so much baggage with it.

Now, I remember for me, the way that this started was I was living in Argentina, I was studying abroad and at least at that time, the fashionable size was very thin, super thin, flat stomach, no hips, very tiny, tiny, tiny. And that is not my natural body shape. But all of these girls I would see in their early 20s were just drinking coffee.

and smoking and I barely saw them eat. Maybe some bread, maybe a tiny bit of meat, almost nothing. And because that was what I saw, my vision of what my body looked like was distorted because I thought I was so big and compared to those girls with those eating disorders, I was bigger than them. I was a healthy weight for me, but I didn’t see it. And so I was running twice a day.

for hours, I was going to the gym, I was barely eating anything to the point where I’ve talked about this before, I was living with a roommate, bless her, and she had this dulce de leche cream caramel sauce jug of it. I remember eating that in one go, it was huge, it was probably 16 ounces because my body had been so deprived of nutrients. And when I…

Chardet Ryel (18:50.358)
Look back on photos from that time when I thought I was so big, I was so small. Unhealthily so.

because you just objectively, when you have that baggage, you cannot see. And in that state of mind, I would not have been able to find body confidence if I was still obsessed with a comparison and looking that way.

Chardet Ryel (19:16.716)
Now next, the second thing we want to talk about here, two out of three things. Now our second big topic here is how your negative body image is going to fuel these sabotaging behaviors. So this goes back to the point of if you have body neutrality, you are much more likely to eat in a nourishing way, to exercise well. It’s a lot easier for you.

Because what we often do is if you have a negative body image, you have all of these emotional baggage with you, a lot of emotional coping, and it leads to excessive restriction. It leads to eating disorders. It leads to binging because you think I look so bad. What’s the point? I’m working so hard. Let me just eat all these potato chips. Let me eat all these fries. Let me eat all this candy because that negative self image is fueling it.

It’s also a lot of times misusing exercise to cover your body image issues. So over-exercising when you feel fat, trying to fix your thighs. It’s not looking at your overall health or your enjoyment. It is all about how can I use exercise to adapt what I see in the mirror? And you…

might recognize this as a behavior that you have. There’s nothing wrong with trying to get stronger. There’s nothing wrong with trying to change in a sustainable way, but it does matter what your intention is behind it. So for me, I think the big thing was with over-exercising is I remember I ignored so much my body cues. My body image was so poor and this was right around the time just after Argentina.

that I was running even harder and I wasn’t stretching and I wasn’t listening to that pool of my tendons and my knees. I didn’t want to pause and take a break because then I could gain weight. And I remember vividly, I was running along the east side of New York, along the water, and I felt this like snap all of a sudden. And my knee went one way and I fell on the ground, on the concrete.

Chardet Ryel (21:39.094)
early 20s has happened. Nobody’s around because it’s like 10 a.m. on a Tuesday because I hadn’t yet found work. And I’m crawling back to the apartment where I’m staying. And I do mean almost crawling because it took me hours to get back there on what would have been a 30 minute run. And I can’t move, really walk for a month.

That was kind of the reckoning where I realized you need to listen to your body because you were so afraid of gaining weight that you couldn’t take some days off of your exercise, but instead you are a month out and there is nothing you can do right now. I’m sure some of you have had injuries like this and maybe you didn’t change. It will continue to happen until you start to look at

I want to exercise for a different reason and I am going to be totally in tune with what my body says to do or not to do. Especially if you are not working with a qualified trainer, you really need to listen to your body there. Because what we do so much is we use exercise as a punishment.

Chardet Ryel (23:00.558)
What we do so much is we use exercise as a punishment to our bodies instead of a way to celebrate them. And this is how it becomes unsustainable and harmful and really continues to fuel these negative behaviors around it. And so if you look at what is movement that you actually enjoy, and if you have something that you really love to do before, bring that back.

It doesn’t need to be the only thing, but you really need something that re-centers in your mind. Movement is not just to make me smaller. Movement is to make me feel better.

Chardet Ryel (23:51.862)
Now our next theme here is creating them. Now our next theme here is practical tips for body acceptance. So we’ve just talked about why you might have sabotaging behaviors, what body neutrality looks like, but let’s talk about how can you actually create more of this body acceptance. So first is creating a safe space for body neutrality to happen.

Chardet Ryel (24:31.286)
And I find this very interesting because so for me, one of the places where I have felt best in my body is in Brazil where I am currently. And that’s because a lot of the bodies are like mine. They are wider hips, wider thighs, and there’s a lot of strength training, extremely strong women. And that is acceptable here and has been for many years, well before it was in the US, UK, Australia, et cetera, Canada.

And so for me, it’s always been a really nice space to feel good in my body. That’s not the case for everyone here, especially people who grew up here. And I remember speaking to a friend who said that she felt like on the beach, she could wear anything and she wouldn’t think twice. And you see that there’s all body shapes wearing almost nothing, wearing whatever they want here and feeling comfortable.

and walking along the beach, no cover-ups, playing volleyball, no cover-ups, completely natural. But she said when she was at a pool at someone’s house or whatever, like the recreational pool, if she were around even friends, she would feel self-conscious. And so this is a clear example of safe space for body neutrality and unsafe, because here at the beach,

Everyone is encouraged to just have their body enjoy the ocean. At the pool, perhaps, there’s one judgment.

If you can create that safe space for you, and it doesn’t need to be a physical space, it can just really be a sense in your mind of being okay in your body, then you will be able to do stuff and wear different things and not think so much about it. So the first thing is, how do I create a safe space for my body? And sometimes that also means who you surround yourself with. You know how we talked about

Chardet Ryel (26:35.264)
You probably remember someone in your family or friends that make comments all the time. Minimizing those interactions if you can, even eliminating them if that’s possible, even eliminating them if that’s possible is ideal or redirecting, but creating a safe space for you to be because otherwise it’s going to be very hard to get into this accepting your body.

Chardet Ryel (27:06.762)
The next part of this is embracing your body’s marks. The next part of this is embracing your body’s marks and your imperfections. I’m talking things like cellulite, dimples, all those things on your body that you don’t like, accepting them now, whether they change as you work out, as you eat differently, whatever, but accepting that they are here.

Now, not obsessing about them. I have on my inner thighs, it looks like scratch marks. They’re stretch marks that I had since I was 17. So I’ve had these stretch marks for 22 years. wait, yeah, yeah. So I’ve had these stretch marks for 22 years. They haven’t gone away. Doesn’t matter how much I exercise or what I eat, they are there. And I could very easily obsess about them. You know, I love…

the beach, I love being in the bikini, you can see them. But they’re just part of my body. They are just there. There are other marks that have gone away, but it’s easier to just say it is here. I’m gonna continue to do habits and behaviors that support my body and if they go away, they go away.

It’s this theory of just accepting even as you have hope of change, which is hard to hold those two ideas in our minds, but this is really how you can go forward with more motivation.

Chardet Ryel (28:46.742)
And I always feel like with women and marks, it’s so interesting because when men get marks, they’re scars. And they are honored for battles fought or risk taken or funny stories or scrapes they got out of. And I never understood why it is so different for us as women. Because a body without marks, it’s one that’s been hidden. It’s one that hasn’t lived.

And so why do we think of them so differently? Just because someone says this one is attractive and this one is not. It’s something to think about every time you notice something different.

Chardet Ryel (29:39.49)
The last part about habits that can really support your body acceptance is this one that I kind of talked about a little bit before and a few times of the power of how we talk about other people’s bodies because it impacts your own body image and your own self-esteem. So if I compliment someone on how they look after a diet, that does two things.

One is it reinforces to them that I noticed that you didn’t look good before and people can be very, they can think this isn’t true, that it’s just a compliment, but I promise you anyone who has struggled with their body, when they hear you say that, they get stuck in, I can’t go back to before and how bad was I before? But also in your own mind, it’s going to cement this idea of if I do these behaviors, I can also have a better body.

Instead, can say, hey, you seem like you’re getting really strong or hey, it seems like you’ve got a lot of glow in your skin, whatever, like something to acknowledge that maybe they’re doing something differently, but not putting the focus on the weight. Also the same with certain clothes, commenting on what someone should wear or shouldn’t. Yes, some things are flattering and yes, others aren’t, but if no one has asked for your opinion, there’s no reason for you to.

give it. There’s no reason for you to say anything because that is also going to influence how you think about yourself.

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Lastly, we are going to talk about five habits that will really help you with positive self-esteem, positive body image, body acceptance, body confidence. These are based on what we’ve discussed earlier, but I’m laying them out here for you. So one is limit your mirror time and your body checking. So reducing how much you are grabbing the fat around your arms or your belly or constantly looking in the mirror is a really good way to reorient away from

obsessing about the way you look. Habit number two, surround yourself with positive influences from what’s on your social media feed to the people that you are around, to the movies that you watch. Again, if you can put more on body neutrality, acceptance, or not even talking about it, the more likely you are to again, move out of this mindset.

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Habit number three, wear clothes now that make you feel confident now. If you don’t own any, find some. Go to the vintage store if you need to, pull out something, but use clothes that actually make you feel good now because that will give you positive momentum going forward, much more so than the pair of jeans that you wore 10 years ago and you’re waiting to get back in. I know, I was there too, I did it too.

Last one, habit number five, morning rituals. So I know when people say morning rituals, it’s become so cliche, it doesn’t really stick. The way I want you to think about it is this. If the first things I hear and see in the day trigger my thoughts and the way I act, that means they’re the most powerful. So if you can do one mindful movement, reconnecting to your body, whether that is a little bit of breath work, a tiny bit of stretching, anything like that,

you’re setting the tone of, am gonna be present in this body. I’m gonna care for it. Two affirmations for self-love are body acceptance. These don’t need to be super woo-woo. It can just be, I am in my body today and it’s gonna carry me forward. Or I’m working towards strength and I’m grateful for the body that does it. It can sound trite to you. It can sound silly to you.

But think about how many times a day you’re saying the opposite of an affirmation. And that might make you rethink, can I just do one little woo woo type thing in the beginning of the day? And then the third thing is a visualization, which you can do while you’re doing your movements or your breath work. And that’s just seeing yourself with the absence of body shame. You don’t even need to visualize the perfect body or anything like that. It’s just thinking about what it would feel like.

if you already were comfortable in your body now. That creates such a positive feeling and it really sets the tone for everything you do going forward.

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Now, final summary of everything we discussed today here is, now today we talked about a lot. We talked about connecting to your body. Now today we talked about a lot of things. We talked about connecting to your body, some behaviors that might be causing you to not feel so good in it, and habits to really help you find that confidence. In the rest of this series, I’ve also talked about fitness that feels good.

nutrition that nourishes you. It’s not based on counting, all this stuff to reach fitness goals in a sustainable way. So number one, make sure you’ve listened to all the episodes if you haven’t already. And number two, I would really encourage you to share this episode with someone who you think is so amazing and you just want them to feel the confidence that you feel towards them.

Final reminder too that if you really want to reconnect with your body and you want a really easy resource to do that, I have the real plan, really quick workouts. It’s $10 a month now, hundreds of workouts, training plan, and my main goal in that is just to help you feel a little more connected to your body, to start your day with that movement and with that confidence. Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you.

In the next one, quick intro.

Body connection, practical tips. In this episode, we’re gonna go over three major themes to help you feel a lot better about yourself. The first one is body connection, how to reestablish it so that you want to do things like exercise, you wanna move your body, it feels good. Two, we’re gonna talk about

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the habits that can really help build some positive self-esteem for you.

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That’s three.

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one.

Two, we’re gonna talk about practical tips for body acceptance, understanding where that comes from, really how do you get that confidence? And lastly, habits you can do right now to promote that kind of confidence. So this episode is packed with practical stuff to help you, also talking a little bit about some of the sabotage that we might be doing without realizing and walking you through a different way. So let’s dive in.

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That’s good.