What’s the first thing you think of when you hear body acceptance?

I know for me the first thought is body acceptance is accepting your body exactly as it is. When we move from body hate and dysmorphia to acceptance and neutrality we strive to accept our body as it is. No changes, no alterations, just love and acceptance exactly as we are.

Learning to accept yourself as you are is arguably one of the most important and difficult things you can do.

I spent decades of my life wanting to change almost everything about me and it took me years to undo the damage decades of self-hatred did to my levels of confidence and self-worth. It’s the exact reason I developed The Diet Rescue 12-week coaching program because YOU deserve to be free of the self-hatred and loathing most of us have felt for years of our lives.

Before healing my relationship with my body I struggled with:

• getting dressed every day
• saying a single positive thing to myself
• seeing my reflection in mirrors or store windows
• feeling confident in my body
• understanding I was worthy of success
• setting boundaries 
• feeling like I was worthy of unconditional love
• having any sense of worth that wasn’t tied directly to my appearance

For decades I woke up every day and felt my worth as a human being was 100% tied to how I looked. It didn’t matter how smart I was, how thoughtful or caring I was; I truly believed that my worth was directly tied to how I measured up to the world’s standard of beauty.

And if you don’t know how untrue those thoughts are, let me be the first to tell you, you are enough exactly as you are.

YOU are exactly what the world needs, perfectly packaged as the amazing human you are.

 Now you’re probably thinking, Dr. Claudia, isn’t this blog titled body acceptance and beauty? Yes, it is and we’re going to dive into that now.

When it comes to body acceptance and beauty treatments I 1000% believe they can coexist.

Why? Because as with anything intention matters. Understanding that beauty treatments simply increase beauty, not self-worth makes a massive difference in how you approach why, how much and when you’re willing to invest in products and procedures.

The only way to have a healthy relationship with beauty products and procedures is to understand deeply that your worth and value do not come from how you look. Healing your relationship with your body must come ahead of the products and procedures. 

 It’s very important for you to understand the products and procedures will not help you heal. Healing comes from within, from how you speak to yourself, from truly understanding you are so much more than a body. Products and procedures are external. So if you use them to try and heal an internal issue you are simply putting a bandaid over a very large wound. It simply won’t heal long term.

I understand this professionally but I’ve also lived this truth in my own life. Prior to healing my relationship with my body I had breast augmentation (circa 2004) and a thigh lift with liposuction and skin removal (circa 2012). I made assumptions that these major surgeries would help me feel more comfortable and complete in my body and between the two surgeries I spent 20K changing my body.

The result was I looked outwardly different but felt just as insecure and unworthy of love as I did prior to the surgeries. The work that needed to be done was INTERNAL, not external.

If you’re making assumptions that you can “fix” your body image with a procedure I would argue it’s highly unlikely that will be the result.

I know at this point you’re wondering how can beauty products and procedures fit with body acceptance if they won’t produce the result of body acceptance…

and the answer is they need to be looked at as a bonus option on top of the confidence and comfort you already feel in your body.

They’re an accessory not the main act.

When I evaluate what kind of products and procedures I currently use I ask myself…

• Do I think this will change my value as a person?
• What’s the risk involved with using this product/procedure?
• Why am I choosing to do this?

If, at anytime, I feel like something will change my value as a person I hold off on that product or procedure. Why? Because if I feel that way I’m choosing to move forward based on false expectations and you should never move forward like that.

 Here are the things I’ve currently chosen as safe options for me:

• daily skincare
• Botox
• yearly Halo laser treatment
• monthly Emsculpt treatment 
• microblading of eyebrows
• manicures/pedicures
• lash extensions
• hair color

 This list may look very different for you, and that’s ok! What we choose as safe and acceptable options is deeply personal. I’m giving you my list so that I’m 100% transparent of the beauty treatments I do to maintain my appearance, not to encourage you to do the same or for you to compare. I feel you should be aware. It’s deceptive if someone tells you to accept your body as it is and is secretly using body altering procedures without disclosing them.

I do not feel these procedures change my value or worth, but I enjoy them and the results they provide me.

Deciding what is right for you is deeply personal and INTENTION is everything!