Right now, I’m laying on a blanket on my porch, sunlight pouring down on me.  One of my two pups is curled up next to me and the breeze is flipping the pages of my "Diet Survivor’s Handbook" (I highly recommend picking one up at your local bookstore or on Amazon.com- whether you are ready to give up dieting or not, it’s been such a revelation for me since I’ve started reading it).  I couldn’t tell you what I weighed today, and frankly I don’t care.  How could I possibly be thinking about something so trivial as a number when the whole world is smiling down on me?  For that matter, how could you either?  Before the day is over, do something for yourself that will make you smile, make you happy, make you feel on top of the world.  Believe me, it’s a feeling no Twinkie, piece of pepperoni pizza or any food could ever make you feel.  You deserve it- we ALL do.

When it comes to criticizing our bodies and weight, nobody is a match for our own inner voices, which have become the experts at knowing just what to say to cut us to the quick.

How often do you hear this voice of criticism?  What does it say?  In the past, mine has used words and phrases like "fat loser", "huge, giant failure" and "ugly".  It’s so strange- I’ve come so far when it comes to my self-esteem, but my weight lingers as the one thing that makes me feel "less than" as a person. 

But maybe it’s time we cut ourselves a little slack.  Maybe it’s time to fall in love with our bodies again, regardless of dress size or a number on a scale.  Maybe it’s time to appreciate our bodies for the size they are today, not the smaller size they could be in the future.  I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of waiting till I’m "thin" enough to like myself.  I’m more than pounds and kilos- I am a beautiful, intelligent, caring, trustworthy, amazing woman who is wrapped up in a package that may not be the media’s (warped) idea of the perfect body, but who wants to be perfect anyhow?  How boring would that be?!?