Dare to NOT Compare!

Consider how many times you make comparisons in your average day.  You might compare the cost of gas at one station as opposed to the cost to fill up at another.  You might compare different colors of the same sweater to determine which one looks best with your skin shade.  Sometimes comparing products can get you a better deal for a superior item.  Comparing restaurants may help you find the best quality food for your budget.  However, when one begins comparing body weights and shapes, eating behaviors, exercise levels and the like, comparisons cease to be helpful.  In fact, such comparisons can lead to extreme dieting, excessive exercise and even full blown eating disorders.
Why do we engage in such ridiculous and frivolous actions?  When we get involved in these mental gymnastics we are admitting that we no longer trust ourselves.  We do not trust our hunger, our appetites and food preferences and most imposrtantly ... we do not trust our own minds and bodies!  Dieting takes away our ability to honor our own hunger and is driven by assuming there is something terribly wrong with our bodies that can be corrected by chasing a number on the scale.
I recently had a client reveal that her most recent binge was triggered by not allowing herself to eat the dessert that was offered at a business luncheon.  She was still a bit hungry, the dessert appealed to her, but the woman sitting next to her did not eat her dessert.  She compared herself to the woman and noted that the woman was "thinner" than she was.  In a brief moment she made several comparisons that led her to deprive herself.  By the end of the day obsessing over the dessert she really wanted set her up to binge on stale cookies that she didn't even enjoy in front of her T.V. 
As we continue to challenge ourselves and each other to change the conversations we have about dieting, body image, and self-esteem issues, let's dare each other not to compare!
Try some of these suggestions:

• Love and respect that body you have, not the body of some airbrushed model in a magazine.
• When you catch yourself making comparisons to what a friend is eating or not eating, remind yourself that each individual body has differing needs for calories, vitamins and macronutrients.  There is no effective way to compare, so why bother?
• Discover your own food preferences, hunger-satisfied signals, and cravings by giving up dieting and learning to trust yourself with food.
• Find physical activites to participate in that make your mind and body feel invigorated and alive.
• Compare yourself only to yourself and only to yourself at this time in your life.  Optimize the body you have by feeding it food that is tasty and healthful ... but not micromanaged. Compliment that with some moderate activity and you will be the best you can be!

Please share with those who follow this blog suggestions as to how you have overcome destructive comparison tendencies.