I have been following Theresa Jenn Lopetrone for a few years now. I was drawn to her for her honesty and transparency. I have a great amount of respect for Theresa as a fitness model and a women. She has written so many great Facebook posts on her journey and self-love, so it was only natural that I invited her to do a guest post for our week of self-love.
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What I have noticed over my years of being immersed
in the fitness industry is that a common
denominator amongst women who want to make a physical change is their lack of self-love.At first glance, one might think I am suggesting that women intentionally do not love themselves; that, I am not suggesting.
What I am suggesting though is that as women we are incredible beings who continuously contribute to society without limitations. We are so empowering that we can make a house into a home, and a frown into a smile, groceries into a meal, and a problem into a solution.
Our power is so abundant and our heart is so grand that we often give so much to those around us because this brings us joy, but eventually we have nothing left for ourselves.
Women are a gift to this world; however, women can be so selfless that they forget to save some love for themselves. Without leaving ourselves a piece of the pie, we cannot properly regenerate more love, which will eventually result in running ourselves into the ground. It’s only when we recognize that we need to save some energy and time for ourselves that we can begin to work on ourselves.
Once we make this connection, we need to follow through with a plan that allows us to devote time to ourselves without feeling guilty or explaining our actions. If we can achieve this, then we can take better care of ourselves. Our body and mind know when they are being taking care of and in return this will result in positive physical and mental consequences for us.
Self-love is the fuel to our magic and the more we love ourselves, the more we can do in this world.
There’s that famous quote by Paulo Coelho that states, “When you say 'yes' to others, make sure you aren't saying 'no' to yourself.” Personally, I can attest to being guilty of giving to those around me even when I didn’t have anything left to give, not even for myself. This was a tough lesson to learn but once I realized that it was OKAY to say “No” to others and give myself time to focus on my training, nutrition, and mental health is when my journey progressed.
I reminded myself that feeling guilty because I could not devote time to someone else’s needs when I was devoting very little time to me was both unacceptable and unhealthy. Once I was able to detach myself from feelings of guilt is truly when I began to take care of my own needs.
I became more mindful about creating habits that promoted self-love and making sure I was stable before taking on everyone else’s dilemmas. At the end of the day, YOU need to be taken care of first because without taking care of your mind and body, you cannot take care of anyone else.
Self-love is the base of being able to share your love with those around you and if you want to be an incredible partner, mother, daughter, sister, or friend, then you need to practice self-love first and always.
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Julie Tadeson
Author