Who do you think you are?


Hey, it's me your biggest cheerleader!

Yes, yes, I know we have only just met, but did you know I'm already rooting for you?

You can call me Zoe, TLC or the Tough Love Coach. I'm sure as we get to know each other better, you will think of some other names! You can surprise me with those later.

When was the last time you had someone in your corner, giving you a pep talk and mopping your brow? Maybe we will just stick to the pep talk...

I know that lately you haven't been feeling great, maybe it's the way you feel as a parent, or how you feel overwhelmed with work. Maybe it's that your skin doesn't seem to fit right, and you're pretty sure that your silhouette never used to look like this.

Isn't interesting that as we get older, we become more and more aware of changes in ourselves, our lives, our body?

I have spoken to lots of friends who are of a similar age to me and there seems to be one of two themes running through our conversations about our bodies.

Either we have spent our 20's and 30's hating everything about ourselves, but when we reach our 40's we say screw this shit and start to enjoy who we are and this skin suit finally starts to feel comfortable, or we feel that we have completely neglected ourselves and put everyone and everything first.

The kids, our partners, the PTA, the Great British Bake Off. How are you liking it this year? Got any favourites yet?

Isn't it a shame that for the small amount of time we have in this human experience, whether it happens at the beginning or towards the end we have a more than uncomfortable relationship with who we are?

Well I'm here to stand on my soap box and have a bit of a rant... it's time to spill the tea!

(Urban dictionary is your friend)

Listen very carefully, metaphorically speaking, as I tell you the following.

You have absolutely no right to speak to your body and treat it the way that you do...

I don't care if you have 20 stone to lose or if you are in constant pain. It matters not if you are covered in stretch marks or have weird shaped tits... You do not have the right to treat yourself so badly.

Stay with me and I'll explain why.

From the second you took your 1st breath, your body has been your best friend. Every second of every day, your body is doing its best for you. It doesn't matter how you fuel it, if you overeat, starve, exercise, drink, smoke or take drugs. It is always doing everything it can to keep you alive regardless of the hand it is dealt.

Yes, you might be annoyed that it isn't functioning as well as it should but is it really your body's fault? Most of the time it is dehydrated, over tired and undernourished. You would not speak to your children or your best friend the way you speak to yourself.

Until the time it comes to take your last breath it is always doing its best.



Working hard for you.

It is battling the stresses of every day, poor food choices, toxins in our foods and environment. We shove poison in it and lumps of silicon, plaster make up over our skin so it can't breathe properly and allow other to dictate how it should look.

Do you treat it with kindness and compassion? Do you thank those aching feet and back for getting you through another day? Are you grateful that today your heart continued to beat?

Even in the very worst times such as fighting cancer, it is doing everything it can to fight. It doesn't always win but I'm telling you now, until it can't go on any longer it is fighting, fighting for you.

It may not be the body you would like to present to the world right now, but it's a product of everything it has been through.

What is the point to the ramblings of this middle-aged woman?

The point is, be kind to yourself.

Start a relationship of gratitude with your body.

When you start to focus on what it can do and the absolutely awesomeness of who you are, you start to look after it better. You take time to invest in yourself, you make better food choices, you learn to let go of the past and get rid of those around you who don't love or respect you the way you deserve...

If I'm going to be honest that love and respect has got to start with you.

I will always be in your corner celebrating how fabulous you are, I will shout your f%*king awesomeness from the rooftops, until you start to believe it yourself. Then once you start to believe, we will shout it together.






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