Is the true goal to be a skinny person or to be a healthy person? What do you want out of life? To live well and feel well, to suffer fewer diseases and still have energy and good health as you grow older? If your answer is “yes”, you should know that being “skinny” is no guarantee of health. In fact, many of my naturally “skinny” friends are some of the most unhealthy people I know, simply because they don’t pay attention to what they eat. They claim “I don’t gain weight, so I can eat whatever I want!” I feel bad for them. They’ve taken their lack of natural body fat to mean that they don’t have to care about the fuel they put into their bodies. They get sick more often and, later in life, they have poor skin quality, poor bone quality and poor muscle quality. Your body is a great natural monitor. The ability to gain weight could actually be considered a gift! When you are not fueling yourself properly and exercising your body properly, your body will tell you!

Now, I will not deny that obesity is a problem and that a good, healthy body will have a lower fat/muscle ratio, thus, a “smaller” and leaner body is a desirable thing , however (and this is my problem with magazine models), a positive self-image is critical to weight loss and wellness, as is an accurate image in your mind of what your body in good health should look like.

Feeling positive about yourself, loving yourself and knowing that your body is capable of giving you everything you’ve ever wanted is the number one way to guarantee that you will treat your body the in the very best way you can, thus ensuring you WILL have the body you want. Start by learning what a “normal” body looks like! Soon, you’ll realize that a healthy body is both attainable and attractive!