Thank you

I love this message from this beautiful woman who shows the lengths we sometimes to force the body to look a certain way. If you learn how to nourish the body properly, you can have what you desire without destroying your health...I love how what we do is helping so many people...

2016: To my beautiful body that I put through so much stress …

Thank you for putting up with me when I starved you for years because I thought it would make me more beautiful. For drinking 8 cups of coffee, 2 scoops of pre-workout powder, and 2 energy drinks PER DAY just to stay awake. For sleeping 3-4 hours a night while working 3 jobs and taking 23 college credits per semester. For pushing to the point where teachers would ask if you needed to skip class to take a nap.

Thank you for taking dangerous supplements and working out like a psycho (up to 6 hours per day) and eating under 500 calories EVERY DAY for years. For sweating it out in the sauna at midnight and waking up at 3 a.m. to do it all over again. Thank you for eating cold tilapia out of a plastic container in class every day for 4 years. For eating a rice cake that wasn’t on your plan and stairstepping extra to burn off the 100 calories I wasn’t supposed to consume (all while crying from guilt).

Thanks for wearing a corset to make your waist smaller, when really it ended up messing with your poor organs and cutting off your ability to breathe deeply all day long. (Do you remember how miserable you felt?) You lost your hair, and your skin was broken out. You screamed to stop in every way you could communicate with me. I just didn’t listen.

Thank you for refusing to have a social life all of your college years to pursue bodybuilding — it really did create massive self-discipline. For acting like you were happy and fulfilled, when really you just wanted to feel confident, worthy, beautiful, and proud of your accomplishments.

2018: To my beautiful body that spent years healing and recovering …

Thank you for quitting bodybuilding. Thank you for pushing to the point that my pancreas, spleen, colon, adrenals, lymphatic system, thyroid, and liver were destroyed. For never allowing rest. Thank you for wearing that exhaustion like a badge of honor.

Thank you for binge eating because you were screaming to be fed great nutrition and craved rest. Thank you for grinding so hard in your business that you stopped taking care of you. Thank you for continuing to work out SO INTENSELY 1-2 times a day when really you just wanted to do yoga or go on a walk or (God forbid) take a day off. Thank you for not allowing yourself to lose any weight no matter how hard you tried. For acting like you had it all together, when really, you just wanted to be a positive role model for women.

2019: To my beautiful body …

Thank you for functioning properly. Thank you for the perfect imperfections. Thank you for the energy, the clear mind, the cleansing of toxins.

Thank you, body, for helping to guide me to the best nutrition system to fuel my body. Thank you for reversing YEARS of damage. Thank you for HEALING ME. For never restricting yourself from any type of food. For working out when it feels right, and not judging what type of movement it is. For allowing you to listen to your intuition.

You are so confident, worthy, beautiful, loving, accepting, and happy. You’re a positive role model for women, a stand for change and transformation. You should be so proud of your accomplishments regardless of what you look like. And that … THAT is when you have looked and felt your best. I LOVE YOU.” — #repost Sydney Lich