I love my body because it carries around my brain.

The best words a dear friend of mine has ever said to me.

Because that’s where the good stuff is, right? And your heart. Smarts and soul is what makes a person beautiful, yet, I spend so much time staring into the mirror wishing I didn’t have these ‘awful’ love handles. I secretly envy women who have hips that are slimmer than mine. I see pictures and think “That’s what my arms look like when I don’t pose? gross.” It’s exhausting and time consuming.

The worst part is...I NEVER think that about any of my friends and I know they go through the same thing.

Men and women alike, spend too much time worrying about The Beverly Hills standard, and not enough time on the “You Standard.” I can go for a run and have these beautiful, crystal clear thoughts of how absolutely grateful I am for a working set of legs and lungs. I went for a run today and zipped by houses I dreamed of owning and gardening one day on streets lined with purple and yellow-flowered trees….and I felt lucky. Lucky to smell those flowers. Lucky to have the time to enjoy them. Lucky to have the forethought of dreams and goals and aspirations. I finished that run feeling strong and proud of myself. Yet, the second I got into the bathroom to undress for a shower, I immediately despised the reflection and started making plans on what I should eat for the week and how I could fit in an extra workout.

This is an EXHAUSTING process!

Why do we do this to ourselves? I sit and listen to my best friend go on and on about how guilty she feels for not working out “enough” because she’s busy raising a beautiful family; and my other girl friend gets so surprised when I tell her how thin and gorgeous she looks like somehow she didn’t earn it.

My male friends are just as guilty. Running to the gym at 11p at night, cutting their diets extremely, and hiking everyday. EVERY DAY?!

What is this standard are we trying to live up to? Because The Beverly Hills Standard looks impossible without a lot of money and surgery...neither of which I have time for. Nor do my friends.

My friends make some really cool stuff. They paint, they write, they act in plays, they film the world exactly as they see it. In that world...are all of us, exactly the way we are...sitting reading this blog. Hunched over our phones or computers with little adorable belly rolls that no one notices but ourselves.

I don’t have the answers here, because body issues are really tough and I’ve been faced with A LOT of them lately. But there is a difference between exercising because you love yourself and wanting to take care of you, and exercising because you have to burn enough calories to make up for the ice cream date you had last night.

Feed your soul whatever that looks like (a run, a meditation on the beach, a Korean BBQ night out with friends, a chocolate bar, and binge watch session, etc). Because your soul is what makes the art you create thus making this world so beautiful. And whatever your body looks like...remember...that’s what carries around your brain and your heart which creates all of that amazing art!

I love you, exactly as you are.

A little Ed Sheeran to help you remember...even HE is in love with your body!