I bet there are all kinds of things you love! People, food, places, ideas, music, sleeping, pets, books, movies, nature, architecture, poetry, sports….the list is endless. And while none of us loves all things, we all have things we do love.

Now here’s a question for you. Do you love yourself?

What was your first thought when you read the last sentence about loving yourself?

Was it something about loving yourself being wrong? Wrong because to love yourself would be conceited? Wrong because what would others think? Wrong because you don’t think of yourself as a loveable person? Wrong because no one else loves you? Wrong because people shouldn’t just walk around loving
themselves? Wrong because…….?

No matter what reason there is that you may believe that loving yourself is wrong, that reason is wrong!

You are a magnificent being! You are worthy of being loved, no matter what anyone else may have ever told you. And the first step to being loved is to really love and accept yourself. Fully embracing yourself, all of
yourself.

Self-love is really the basis for self-esteem. And our level of self-esteem determines what we will and won’t accept from life. Our level of self-esteem determines what we think we are worth, from all
perspectives. What we thin k we can earn, the type of people we associate with, the quality of our clothes, our cars, our houses, and what we weigh, are all tied into our self-esteem.

It just makes sense that if you hold yourself in high-esteem, that you will treat yourself with respect and care. Conversely, if your self-esteem is low, your self-respect will be low too. And low self-respect doesn’t
translate into treating yourself well. And treating yourself well does not include habits that lead to an unhealthy body. And an overweight body is an unhealthy body.

Do you know that you are a marvellous creation? A truly remarkable human being? That there is no one else on this planet that has the exact same make up as you? You are as unique as a snowflake! And did you also know
that you have unique gifts to offer? Whether you are a great singer, dancer, crossword-doer, baker, parent, friend, artist, writer, sunset-watcher, gardener, decorator, cook, sports person, story-teller or
anything else, you have within you the capacity for greatness! You have some unique talent(s) that others admire in you. Think about what this is. If you aren’t sure what it is, or if you can’t even begin to believe this,
ask your nicest, closest friends for some insight. Your friends will be able to tell you what they see you being good at. We are going to use this information in just a minute.

We are going to use a technique we called Affirmations. An affirmation is a statement you repeat over and over and over again to yourself, until you actually start to believe it because it is programmed into your
subconscious. An affirmation is always done in the present tense, even though sometimes this can seem like quite a stretch of the truth. So, to make it easier for you to get going, we are going to start with your personal area of strength that you know is true. This way we can “shore up” your belief, and give you a good solid foundation.

A great way to start an affirmation is with the words “I am so happy and grateful now that I ___________________________” and then fill in the blank with your strength. So you might say “I am so happy and grateful now that I am a great gardener, with a beautiful garden of gorgeous flowers”
or “I am so happy and grateful now that I am a great parent of a wonderful child’ or “I am so happy and grateful now that I am a great singer/artist/seamstress/bowler/salesperson etc etc”

Right now, I want to y ou to formulate your affirmation, and then memorize it. You are going to repeat this statement to yourself many, many times every day. You may want to put post-it notes all around to remind yourself to do this! I personally have post-it notes on my bathroom mirror, in my bedroom, and sometimes even in the kitchen! You can’t over do this, and the more you do it, the faster your thinking will shift. Aim to say your
affirmation (out loud, or silently, depending on where you are at the time) at least 100 times per day!

Again, don’t be concerned if it feels like you are really exagerating or even lying to yourself. Just keep repeating it over and over and over each day, and it will begin to feel like the truth, as it becomes the truth!

Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it is going to take some time for you really cement this new of way of thinking about yourself. You will know this technique working when you find yourself thinking
kinder, gentler thoughts about yourself. You may also notice that you start feeling more optimistic about your life and the situations and people in it. You will also notice that the way people respond to you changes for the better too.

The reason everything in your life changes for the better when you increase your self-esteem and self-respect is because your self-esteem determines the “lens” through which you look at the world. Each of us sees
the outside world relative to our inside world. All our points of reference are internal. By changing internally, you are also changing your filters. So it is not really that the outside world is changed, it’s just that you changed how you look it. You will begin to notice things you never noticed before, and won’t notice things that used to get your
attention. It’s like looking thru a telescope…you will see only what you focus the telescope on. By moving the telescope, your view will change.

That doesn’t mean the other view is not there, it is just not in your line of sight. Changing the lens through which you look at the world will change what you see and what gets your attention. This is a guarantee!

Begin today to fall in love with the most important person in your life…YOU! It is a love affair that will last a lifetime and bring you more hjoy and happiness than you can even imagine. And once you are in love
with you, watch how those around you start to fall under your spell too. True love must start within, and then it can progress to the outside.

If you were told you only had one year left to live, how would you spend your time during that year? And what would you do on your last day? That was a question posed to me by a good friend, who just started a fantastic new business this year, called BCelebrated.com. This is a website dedicated to celebrating life and living a full, aware existence, which is a very different way of living than just muddling through each day on autopilot.

My friend is running a very interesting experiment for 2010, in which she is challenging anyone who wants to be part of it, to live 2010 as if it were their last. I am committing to be part of her experiment, and am actually quite excited about all that will come out of this.

How would you spend each day if you knew your days were limited? How would your relationships change? What things would you want to accomplish before the year was over? Would you travel or stay home? Surround yourself with people or lead a more solitary existence? Finally give up your vice(s) or dive even further in? I gotta tell you, questions like these really get you thinking!

To learn more about the "A Year To Live" experiment, and to see some people's answers to the ‘last day’ question, go to www.BCelebrated.com/blog

Want to have a fuller life? Accept the challenge and become part of this experiment. It will help you figure out what’s important to you in life, and what isn't.  I commend my friend for putting this together, and challenge all the HealthKicker community to get on board.

What are some of the things you'd do if you only had a year to live? How would you spend your time? What would you change?

1. Go through the candy and pick out all the pieces that are not your favourites. Get rid of them immediately. That means throw them out, or get in the car and drop them off at collection places for food banks.

2. Now that you’ve narrowed down the stash to just your faves, put what you are keeping in the freezer. Better yet, put them in your neighbour’s freezer, they’ll be much harder to get at there!

3. Attach a picture of yourself at a weight you like to the freezer door. Look at this picture everytime you go for a candy. Remind yourself that the candy is not going to help you look like you look in the picture.

4. Everything in life has a cost, so wen you do decide to go ahead and have a candy, make yourself pay a fee. Make that fee either an extra workout, or add 30 minutes to your regular workout.

5. Go into your stash no more than once per day, or even less, like only 2-3 times per week. When you do choose to have any of your candy, really enjoy it. If you’re going to eat it, allow yourself to really enjoy it. Savour it, tasting every bite. This will allow you to get more out of the candy you’re eating, rather than eating more candy. You’ll find that you are way more satisfied with a lot less candy when you eat mindfully.

6. Watch how you speak to yourself as you are reaching for the candy. Are you thinking “I shouldn’t be doing this” or “I should just have an apple instead”? If so, remove the word “should” and instead use “I am choosing to….”. You always have a choice, remember that. So thinking “I am choosing to have the candy” is a better representation of what’s really going on, and puts the power back into your hands.

7. If/When you do choose to have the candy, don’t feel guilty about having it. Even if you go completely overboard and eat way too much, you can’t go back and change what you did. And feeling guilty about it will cause an increase in cortisol in your body. Cortisol is a stress hormone, which contributes to the accumulation of abdominal fat and makes it very difficult to get rid of it.

Use these tips, and just watch as you find yourself eating less candy this year!

After all, you’re already sweet enough!