Dear Body...

Dear body,

I am sorry for everything I have put you through. You took it so well, without even complaining. I would stuff you fill of high fat, high sodium, low-nutrient garbage and animal products, yet you still would function. You never betrayed me and gave out on me. You avoided diabetes or heart problems. I made you fat, I stretched you out to the point of irrepair; I neglected you and despised you. I resented you. I am sorry, for this is all my fault.

Body, I love you. I thank you for the wonderful beautiful places you help me see, the people you let me know, and the things you help me do. You are strong and resilient. I love it when we work together to achieve a common goal. I am trying to make you healthy again. I promise to move you every day, and in many new and different ways. I promise to keep you taken care of with the proper nutrition and vitamins you need to function. I promise to drink lots of fresh, clean water to keep you hydrated and running properly. I want you to be around and at your best for a very long time.

I will no longer put you down or call you names. I want to think of you like a friend, an entity separate from myself. I would never say such mean things about a friend. I wouldn’t stare at a friend in disgust or think about how my friend could be so much better. I will encourage you, compliment you, and embrace you for what you have to offer.

Body, you are beautiful. Your hair is straight, an envy of many others. Your eyes are expressive and have pretty orange flecks in them. Your nose is cute as a button, the kind you see on babies or cartoon characters. Your mouth is small, so don’t use it to shout (unless you’re shouting for a cause). Your shoulders are tanned, your arms strong. Your hands remind me of my mothers. I even have to like the skin on your stomach, it is soft and pale. Your hips are proportionate and womanly, your thighs have a nice shape. Your calves are muscular and can hold any stance. I have worked hard to get here and now I see I should have loved you all along, this may not have gone so far had I loved you and treated you like a friend from the beginning.

Please accept my deepest, most heartfelt apologies. Please forgive me. I promise to treat you with nothing but respect and loving kindness for the rest of my life.

Yours always,

Heather