During 2020, actor Rebel Wilson has embarked on a “year of health”. Regularly posting body-positive photos to Instagram, the 40-year-old actor has lost over 20kgs and has hit her goal weight of 75kg.
On November 30, Wilson took to Instagram to announce that she had hit her “goal with one month to spare!”
“Even though it’s not about a weight number, it’s about being healthy. I needed a tangible measurement to have as a goal and that was 75kg,” she said.
More recently, Wilson has made headlines for finding herself a new love, Jacob Busch — heir to the Anheuser-Busch brewing dynasty. And according to the internet, he is hot. However, being in the public eye comes with a set of drawbacks and critics have come out saying that Wilson only gained the affections of Busch because she lost weight.
In an interview with E! News, Wilson hit back at her critics.
“Some people on social media say, ‘Oh, well, you lost weight and then you got a hot boyfriend.’ But, what I do want to say to those people is that I actually dated Jacob when I was at my heaviest as well,” she said.
“So, it’s not like I suddenly lost weight, and then you’re like, oh, you get a hot boyfriend — that’s not how it works. This guy liked me at 100 kilos (220 pounds) and now 75 kilos (165 pounds). I just want to clear out that. There’s something really comforting in that to me because you’re like, oh, it wasn’t necessarily of what my body type was. He really likes me for me.”
And this is where the lesson lies. Just because you are losing weight, it doesn’t mean that it will change your life. Sure, you may look and feel healthier, however, without the addition of changing your mind and your habits, you still might hold onto the insecurities, doubts and negative thought patterns that were present when you weighed more.
Weight loss doesn’t equal complete fulfilment.
According to an interview with Healthline, Kelsey Latimer, PhD — a clinical psychologist at the Centre for Discovery in the US — says that on a psychological level, “there’s a certain level of ‘success’ that our culture sets us up to feel when we see the number on the scale go down.”
“Unfortunately, no one tells us what to do when that stops, which can create a vicious cycle of not feeling good enough,” she says.
So, in order to feel happy within your own skin (no matter what you weigh), here are some practices you can do to shift your mindset.
☆ Be Kind to Yourself — Speak kindly to yourself, appreciate the good in yourself and treat yourself as though you would treat your closest friend.
☆ Forgive Yourself — Forgive yourself for what you’ve been holding on to including unhealthy relationships, the blame of yourself and others, and the shame that comes with mistakes that are made. Use meditation or gratitude as a means to move forward.
☆ Accept Yourself — Accept yourself for you who are right now. If you’re looking at losing weight, do it for health reasons, not because you think it will bring you the love of your life. Accept your flaws and learn how to change them, but keep a focus on those amazing strengths too.
☆ Your Past Doesn’t Define You — Always look forward and never look back. Use your past as lessons to growth.
☆ Give love and Feel Love — Love thyself and love others. Express gratitude, give the love you want to see for yourself and open your heart.
These are the things that will bring you happiness, not the numbers on a scale.
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