I have had a lot of difficulty navigating the waters of body image.

Body Image has been my number one biggest problem, even when I wasn’t aware of it. Even more than my obsession with health.

For almost the whole two years after I made the commitment to the Fuck It Diet, I would still get a look at myself in the reflection of a store window as I passed by and totally seize up in horror that I was “unimportant adjective” and not fitting into the “acceptable” box that I always had aspired to fit into.

Well, somehow, somehow somehow, after two years… my perfectionism has nearly fallen away. I just don’t really care anymore about being what I used to need to be.

Part of that has been time, confidence, time, confidence, affirming and affirming over and over again that I am more than what I look like and FUCK anybody else who tries to convince me otherwise. Part of it is writing this blog. Part of it is Body Positivity on instagram. Part of it may even have been some casual and sporadic energy work, simple DIY EFT (look it up) and part of it was just plain time and waiting to have mini epiphany after mini epiphany about the way I saw the world and myself.

YOU ARE NOT ON THIS EARTH TO BE SMALL.

None of us on this earth are here to be small and docile. We are here to be expansive and filled with light and life and enthusiasm and compassion, for ourselves and others.

So go and be that.

Stop trying to be small.

You can get a lot done when you are not obsessing about food. And you can actually forget about food if you are trying to get a lot done.

NOTE: There is NOTHING HELPFUL about trying to forget about food. Food is good. Food is important. Eating a lot is necessary for staying alive, body tissue, hormones, libido, mood, blood sugar, social lives, metabolism, ETC. All things I have said before. Never try to forget to eat. That is dumb. That is disordered.

However, the times, often, that I have actually forgotten to eat before I leave the house because I was busy worrying about my life and doing the things I cared about and wanted to do were nothing short of MIRACULOUS for the girl who used to think about her next allowed, legal snack every 45 seconds.

We are on this earth to do cool shit. To connect with people. To give our talents. To make a difference. To do what we are meant to do. To get caught up in the fun, exciting, inspiring, beautiful parts of life. And part of that is eating good food. But people who are obsessed with food live their lives through the cloudy, gray lens of food and weight and purity. And they don’t have the time or energy or passion for much anything else.

When weight or idealized and impossible perfect health becomes your main goal instead of: your business, your family, your hobbies, projects, fun, travel, etc- you have stopped living your life.

Free up energy for your life. Realize that food is a placeholder and will never bring you what you want.

Go be awesome.

Fuck It.

Before I get any angry comments about alcoholism: I am not saying “yay alcoholism!”

If you cannot drink in moderation, it is most likely a coping mechanism for deeper issues. (So let’s deal with the deeper issues!)

But this post is for people who are afraid of beer, wine, or liquor for the calories or weight gain. People who feel that their social life is hindered by not only fear of food- but fear of the evil calories of alcohol.

If you’re afraid of the bingeing or “overeating” you do during or after alcohol, that means you need to be eating more. If you binge or stuff your face every time you drink, it means your body is using your defenses being down as an opportunity to get in more calories.

Do not mistake this as a problem with alcohol. This has everything to do with you needing to eat more! In general!

While drinking, your best bet is to eat carbohydrates before and during and after.

And to drink beer.

Or drink wine. Or liquor.

Whatever you like.

If you drink to excess you will feel shitty. It will mess with your day. It will tax your liver. You will sleep poorly. I don’t recommend it for a million other reasons before weight.

Most alcoholics are skinny. Which is another point that goes to show: skinny is not everything. Skinny does not equal health and happiness.

Alcohol does not inherently lead to weight gain.

Alcohol is not a calorie concern. Don’t obsessed over drinking “skinny” and having two vodka diet cokes and snacking sparsely on edamame.

Eat. Drink a bit. Enjoy your friends. Laugh. Sleep well.

Drink a beer. Or two.

Fuck It.