Did you hate yourself on Halloween?

It’s a real question.   No joke.  Just an honest question.

And before you blow me off like some crazy woman, let me ask you this … (and please take a moment to really answer it honestly)…

How did you feel on Halloween when you ate candy, or treats at a party, or whatever you inevitably indulged in?

If you were one of the very few people who didn’t eat anything “extra” over the weekend?  How did you feel about not partaking?  Not participating?

Here are just a few of the actual comments that I heard from other mamas on Monday morning:

• “Oh my god!  I’m so fat!  I ate so much this weekend!”
• “Ugh!  I am such a pig!”
• “I was so bad this weekend.”
• “I have to workout extra this week because I ate so much!”
• “I am so mad at myself because I have no willpower.”
• “I am disgusted with myself.”
• “I feel like a cow.”

Sound familiar?

And if this is what we say out loud to one another, what must we be telling ourselves inside?

How about:

• “I am never gonna get skinny eating such crap.”
• “I am such a failure.”
• “I am so fat.”
• “No one likes the fat girl.”
• “My husband is not going to be attracted to me if I am fat.”
• “I am so not worth it.”
• “I am so stupid that I can’t even stop myself from eating a candy bar.”
• “If I can’t stop myself from something as simple as eating one bite, how can I ever do XYZ?”
• “I am setting a horrible example for my kids. I am the worst mother.”

These all sound so shocking when we write them down or say them out loud, don’t they?  

But the sad reality is that these are the terrible, horrible, degrading things that so many of us say and think on a daily basis.  And it’s no way to live, I promise you.

Remember, this is just the beginning of the holiday season my friends… we have a long way to go. Do you really want to spend the next two months loathing yourself?

Imagine if you could just eat, without the repercussions of that terrible voice in your head? Imagine how free your would feel.  How free you should feel…

Would you ever talk to your sister, your mother, your cousin,  your best friend, or your child that way?  

I doubt it…

Better yet, would you want your beautiful, perfect child to talk to herself that way?

Well, I’ve got some news for you mama…

If you are talking this way to yourself, then I guarantee you that your beautiful, smart, funny, amazing, perfect little girl is saying that same thing to herself.

Do you remember when they were little and they loved to carry a purse and dress up in your clothes?  

Well they still do, but now they do it by emulating the way that you walk and talk and carry yourself.  

If you talk about having to work out because you ate too much, they they will think that’s what working out is for.  

But…

If you talk about working out to have a strong healthy body and to relieve stress and be healthy, they will view it as such.

If you look in the mirror and say “does my butt look big in this?” then they will do the same.

YOU, my friend, have the power to change the voice in your head and YOU have the power to change the voice in her head.

Now, I ask you again, did you hate yourself on Halloween?

Remember, loving yourself and taking the time to respect and care for yourself is what your kids will see, feel and emulate.  

It’s not selfish to care for yourself, it’s the single most important parenting tool you have.

So go – respect and honor yourself today – your children will thank you for it.

What did you do to honor yourself today?  Let me know in the comments below, I love learning from other mamas.

XO,