It’s so hard to stay in the moment. It’s easy to obsess over the past or ruminate about the future–the should-s, the could-s, the would-s–but the present is a very elusive thing. For me, part of being more body positive is getting more present, heavy or not, plus size or not. 
There’s a lot of gifts in the present if we choose to accept them. We are so used to an instant gratification culture that if the small changes we are making in our food and exercise routines aren’t noticed by others, we can get very discouraged. The struggle is in the small steps, one step at a time, day after day. Today, I chose not to drink my calories. I stuck to water. I was present to my body today, instead of just shoving food in my mouth to make the hunger go away.
Think about the times that someone’s extended compassion to you. You’ve probably felt their presence, that their focus and attention was on you. It’s likely that you haven’t felt someone’s compassion while they were scrolling through the alerts on their phone. We have to extend that presence and mindfulness to ourselves. Before eating just to get the task over with and move on, what compassion can we extend to our bodies?
Likewise, we’re not the same people we were a year ago or even yesterday. It’s sometimes hard to be honest with ourselves about where we truly are, instead focusing too much on where we’d like to be. Have a moment of compassion for yourself today. Say, “this is who I am today,” without judgement, without apologies. Accepting is one of the biggest roadblocks, but it’s one that has to be dealt with.
Where are you now?
Kristin West 