The weather is finally starting to warm up, so we have more opportunities to be outside. Now that we can shop again, maybe you have some cute new summer clothes to show off? Or perhaps you are planning on going to the beach or a swimming pool at some point. Instead of focusing on losing those last 5(0) pounds, I would like to challenge you to focus on being healthier instead.

I’ll be honest, friends, butts are big in my family. Our family crest reads “Gluteus in uber maximus” – or you know, it would if we still did cool things like have family crests. I would have to be dead for the better part of five years before anyone would ever consider me skinny. 

I also have to admit that I hate reading diet books, mostly because they are so fad-based, and what supposedly is a miracle cure one week becomes totally toxic the next. No thank you. 

Which is why I really enjoyed reading Health at Every Size. Author Linda Bacon is quick to point out that this is not a weight loss book. Instead, she teaches her readers how to choose the best foods to eat, and even how to enjoy some junk food. The key is balance and movement. If you eat all potato chips and don’t ever get off the couch, there is no magic pill that will make you into a supermodel. 

To be fair, even if you eat right(ish) and move your body more than you don’t, there still is no pill that will make you into a supermodel. (Basically, supermodels are just gorgeous freaks of nature that we should enjoy from afar and try to sneak Twinkies to them when no one is looking.) Most of us have exactly the body we are meant to have – we just need to do a better job taking care of it. 

And that doesn’t necessarily mean weighing less. Here is Bacon’s Live Well Pledge:

Today, I will try to feed myself when I am hungry.
Today, I will try to be attentive to how foods taste and make me feel.
Today, I will try to choose foods that I like and that make me feel good.
Today, I will try to honor my body’s signals of fullness.
Today, I will try to find an enjoyable way to move my body.
Today, I will try to look kindly at my body and to treat it with love and respect.

I love this and have taped it to my fridge (just ‘cause that’s where I will see it the most, not because that’s where the food lives). If you are tired of yo-yo diets and depriving yourself of anything to eat beside kale and rice cakes, check this book out.

Then wear that bikini. Or cute dress. Or comfy sandals. Whatever makes you feel like the gorgeous creature you are.

Happy getting healthy...at any size,

:) Amanda