Because It's Honesty and Intuition are Incredibly Powerful

Day #13 of the #loveyourbodychallenge from Molly Galbraith of GirlsGoneStrong.

Reason #13 to Love My Body:  Because It's Honesty and Intuition are Incredibly Powerful

I first read this from Molly and laughed.  Honest and intuitive?  My body??  My body that craves chips and pretzels and coffee and chocolate covered espresso beans straight from Seattle???  Uh huh... Yeah, right!!!  But, then I started thinking about it.  And realized that Molly is absolutely right.  My BODY is incredibly honest and intuitive.  My BODY knows what it needs, whether that is exercise, rest, or proper nutrition.  And when I give it what it wants (good stuff in), it responds well (good stuff out) with a good mindset, muscles, and proper digestion.

Where I think the problem lies is that our BODIES know what they want, but our BRAINS get in the way.  Have you ever been running or lifting and thought to yourself, "I can't do that..."  It's not your body that gets in the way usually.  It's your mind that convinces you that you can't.  I can't count the number of times that my mind told me that I couldn't go that far... that I couldn't lift that much... that I couldn't possibly run that fast.  And it wasn't until my first bonk that I truly understood what CAN'T meant.  (Interested?  Read that blog entry....)  I'm pretty sure that my body doesn't crave chips.  It craves the salt, because the salt makes me drink more water.  So really my craving for chips is a craving for water, showing myself that I'm dehydrated.  My body is giving my brain the correct information that I need hydration.  And my brain is sending the message that it has LEARNED will get it water: make her eat salty foods and the water will come.  Is that my body sending the wrong message?  Nope... it's my brain that has learned that messages of THIRSTY NOW will be repeatedly ignored.  So, my brain sends out an incorrect message deliberately to get the body what it wants.  A small example of something that I have intuited over the years.  And this is true with sleep (think caffeine), exercise (grouchiness), and sweet cravings (fruit is way better than candy).  Teaching your brain to interpret the messages of your body is about trusting the body and listening to it, rather than the conditioned messages from your brain.  Once you trust your body and listen to it's messages, those conditioned messages will change.

So how can you listen to your body and make sure that your brain is interpreting the messages correctly?  LOVE your body.  And TRUST it.  And be HONEST back with it.  It may take time, but YOU are absolutely worth it!

Train your mind for running, for lifting, for life.  Just TRAIN IT!