Who says that you can’t feel better about the Body that you’re in right now.

You don’t have to wait days or even months for the body that you want. You can appreciate what you already have and what your body can do for you right now.

Too often, we feel like our lives will be perfect and everything will be better when we lose twenty pounds, when we get rid of post-pregnancy weight, or when we get back to our pre-relationship weight.

We agonize over what we don’t have and what we haven’t accomplished.

According to this U.S. News and World Report article, “most people do a little happy dance when they reach their goal weight – and, for some, weight loss results in health and quality of life improvements that truly make a dent in lasting happiness levels. But for most of us, when the excitement and compliments that come with losing weight fade, we realize that we’re not any happier than we were before. Some of us find ourselves even unhappier, says Susan Albers, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic and author of seven books on mindful eating.”

“In fact, in one University College London study, when people ‘successfully’ lost weight, they actually became more likely to suffer from depression.”

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

There are four things you can do right now to feel better about your body.

First, stop comparing your body to other people’s Bodies.

Everyone is different. People have different genetic makeups. Lifestyles differ. Even if we eat the same foods and exercise in the same manner, our bodies will react differently.

In other words, we are individuals.

Too often we compare ourselves to others, and we don’t have any information about their lives. We don’t know if they’re taking medications or if they’re on a special diet. We don’t know if they have any particular medical conditions that impact how they metabolize foods or respond to certain exercises.

We know very little, and yet we continue to make the comparisons.

One of the easiest ways to feel better about your body is to stop making comparisons. Instead, compare where you are with your body and where you want to be. Meet with your physician and nutritionist and determine the actions that you need to take to have the body that you want for yourself.

Second, stop setting unrealistic goals for yourself.

This doesn’t only apply to health and fitness goals. This applies to all goals that you set for yourself.

For example, if you know you’re not a morning person, don’t set a goal of going to the gym in the morning at 5 am without considering whether this is a goal that’s achievable. Sure, you could very well start getting up at 5 am. But it’s going to be more difficult for you to maintain this goal and make it a Habit. Even worse, if you aren’t successful, you’ll feel like a failure.

Once you feel like a failure, it becomes harder to keep working toward the goal. You start to feel like it’s not worth it. You’re more likely to give up. In other words, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Instead, try to set goals that are attainable, time-sensitive, and relevant for what you’re trying to accomplish. Make sure your goals are personal to you and your lifestyle. Skip the latest trends unless you know it’s something that you can truly make a part of your goals.

Third, we don’t implement change. We just complain.

If there are things going on with your health and fitness goals that you would like to change, then it’s time to stop complaining and talking about them. It’s time to meet with your physician or nutritionist, put a plan in place, and then work that plan.

This CNBC article, 6 Ways to Make Goals that Actually Make You Succeed, discusses how to succeed at meeting your goals, and nowhere does it list “complaining.”

We’ve heard so many times that “plan, do, act, and check” is a great model to follow. Additionally, you may want to consider this Ted.com article, Want to Achieve Your Goals? Pick Up These 4 Habits. Of the four habits listed, the second habit is probably one that is most fitting in this instance and that is to “banish the word ‘fine.'”

The article goes on to discuss how the word “fine” keeps you from succeeding.

“Why are your goals on the back burner? Maybe because of the F-word: ‘fine,’ says motivational speaker Mel Robbins. That dirty word lulls you thinking that subpar situations — feeling unfulfilled at work, carrying an extra 50 pounds, having a ho-hum relationship — are good enough that you can put off the effort to change them.

Consider this your wake-up call: it’s time to stop settling for ‘fine’ and set your sights on ‘good’ or ‘great’ instead.”

Finally, the fourth thing is to start appreciating the assets you already have and what your body is already doing for you.

Too often, we focus on the negative. We think about what we don’t have. We spend time beating ourselves up about what we didn’t do.

Instead, we should sometimes take stock of how much our bodies do for us without us even thinking about it. Our lungs clean the air that we breathe. Our digestive system takes food and turns it into energy for us to go about our daily tasks. Our mouths and brains allow us to engage in thoughts and conversations.

Even when we exercise, our bodies are engaging in involuntary actions that will help us increase our flexibility and strength.

So next time you’re getting down about your body, step in front of a mirror and thank you body for all that it’s doing for you right now.

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