2,725 Comments

• Andrea

  I’m good with my body and have been for 20 years. I went up a dress size after each of my two children but I am tall so I can carry it. Would I look better and probably feel better if I lost 10-15 pounds….yes, but I don’t stress over it. However, I want to live a more balanced life across the 6 areas you talk about, so perhaps by working on those areas my body may change as well.
  For fun Yesterday I spent time with my husband and 27 year old son on his birthday and walked about 14 holes of an 18 hole golf course while watching them play golf together.
• NlC

  More and more each day Ism becoming more self conscious of my body. I’ve never liked my middle section and as I get older I am naturally gaining weight. This year is the first year I feel uncomfortable wearing a two piece. I don’t want to feel worse and would like to work on not only making my body strong but my mind.

  Tonight I will go down to the beach to watch the sunset and just be.
• Liz

  I just turned 40 and I’m trying to accept the spider veins, cellulite, jiggles, and wiggles that come along with it. I never had a very healthy relationship with my body and self-acceptance. It was a warm summer day yesterday and I went strawberry picking with my kids and their friends on my husband’s farm:)
• Kati

  1. I grew up in a house of eating to fill emotional voids and I saw my mom on a weekly basis just CRY and my dad hold her because “she didn’t have any clothes to wear” and “she was fat.” I remember thinking she kind of seemed ridiculous, but I didn’t realize how much I copied that behavior. When I was 15 I weighed 110 pounds and had a boyfriend who LOVED by body. But I didn’t. And when we broke up, I ate. I really didn’t love my body when I was 140 pounds. It kept me from going to clubs in college, making friends, being fulfilled. I wonder how many of my decisions in my past I’ve made simply because I didn’t want to do it “fat.”

  2. I first listened to Sarah’s six steps last year. Maybe I was lazy, but I honestly think I just had years of fun to catch up on. So I’ve been having a lot of fun, but I’ve also gained weight. I’m back here to learn the balance and finetune not eating for fun most days of the week, but just having fun for fun. Anyway, last night we turned the tv off and my husband and I talked about us. And that was fun. And I only had one plate of food. And I didn’t have cookies for dessert. That was conscious, but it was all before watching this video. It was nice to know I met the challenge without knowing it, just because I was trying to be more mindful.

  3. Like I said in two, we still had a heavy discussion about us while eating, but it was way more easy to focus on how good my food was during breaks in talks and without all the noise of a tv. And I ate less just because I could be more aware.

  I normally feel robbed when I try to eat without distractions. It feels like taking fun away? And it’s so much harder to do alone. But it makes a difference.
• Amy

  My biggest struggle has been gaining about 20 pounds in the past 3 yrs-since I’ve been married, (combined with unsuccessful fertility treatments) I’ve been pretty thin my whole life because of a passion job singing and traveling that -at 21, literally spontaneously delivered me from obsession with eating and my body (that had started in adolescence). But now I see that emotional eater has been in me all along-it just never showed on the outside because of metabolism touring and lots of yoga. The stress of being a 2nd wife and stepmom and no longer performing regularly has triggered it again and I feel adolescent at moments. My brother once said to me years ago “you’re so skinny but you’re a fat girl inside” and I really felt that. its true. I have lived my whole life like “when I ….. ” and though it wasn’t a goal weight, it was marriage/career. Now that I am married it’s like oh, still here, Guess I need a career miracle so I can be ok. I know the solution is entirely spiritual–I actually thought I had cracked the code but turns out I’m a real beginner. Btw submitting a comment like this was something I was always too skinny cool and untouchable to do before. Here goes!
• Jane Aviles

  I can’t get volume to work. Is there a different link or way to correct?
• Jeni

  My number 1 struggle is that I am embarrassed by my body. After my last child I have been unable to lose the weight and actually gained more. I don’t go do anything I don’t have to because I’m embarrassed. I miss out on things I really want to do because of how I look. I don’t take my kids to the pool because I’m embarrassed. I’m the biggest I’ve ever been, by a long shot and I feel like I can’t gain control.

  2. My thing I’m going to do for fun is-go outside and play basketball with my kids
• Brittney

  My body relationship is best described as a country road; gets me to my destination with lots of random driveways, well worn patches, newly graded areas and tons of holes! I spent most of my life hearing that I could be pretty if I lost Xpounds, cut my hair, dyed my hair, etc. I have rarely seen myself with my eyes, and that sucks.

  Today I am going to pick strawberries with my beautiful toddler! Be jealous!!!!!!!!! 🙂
• Beth

  Sarah, I LOVED this video! So, to answer your challenge requests – My relationship with my body has been up and down. I have struggled with my weight since I was in the 3rd grade, and it’s been love hate. I look back at pictures from high school, when I honestly thought I was a fat cow, and now see a super skinny girl and wonder why I was so hard on myself. I was healthy. I don’t know why I thought I was fat or why I was thinking I wasn’t healthy. I was active. I went hiking. I ate only what I needed, and occasionally wanted, and not in excess. I had other issues emotionally due to the loss of my brother, but that was it. Now, when I look back, I wonder why I was so hard on myself for so long. In college, I started working out and running. Then I graduated and have slowly got back in to it. Since then, I’ve put on 50 lbs, and am slowly turning that in to muscle. Something clicked one day that I need to be healthy. I have not had children yet, but I decided I wanted to get in to a healthy lifestyle before I have children. I’m struggling with my mid-section now, and I’ve learned that the scale isn’t everything. I’ve lost fat, and I see muscle definition. I’ve slowly started to eat healthier, because that’s what I realized I like. Long story short, my number one struggle is my mid-section and visceral fat.

  For fun today I’m going to do my full workout, and then have a glass of wine with my husband. I don’t do that enough!
• Vicki

  I’m one day behind on the Live More Challenge… Thank you for putting this out into the world. Even when I’ve been at my ideal weight, I still felt like it wasn’t enough, or I was imperfect, or I needed to keep such tight control in case I gained weight again. I feel bad for my body – she is strong and resilient and does amazing things for me – and all I give her is criticism and frustration. If she were a person and I was her partner or mother, she’d have every right to ditch me! I’ve been trying to let up on her recently. I threw away the scale and have been working to accept whatever weight I naturally end up. It’s not easy though, especially when I can no longer fit into outfits that I used to wear.

  For fun…today I’m taking a yoga class with my boyfriend. Yoga makes me feel so yummy and it’s a treat that he’ll come along.

  Distraction…I’m about to eat breakfast, so I’ll give it a try… 🙂
• Cheryl

  My mother was overweight my whole childhood as I was growing up and still is to this day . I watched her continually attempts at dieting , constant focus on food and the limitations it brought into her life and I was very judgemental about why she didn’t just get herself under control and to a healthy weight and life. I vowed that would NEVER be me. And it wasn’t for awhile. I ran and exercised and kept myself thin thru most of my 20’s. But then as I had 3 children, a very unhappy dysfunctional marriage that ended in divorce ,a stressful job and financial stress as I attempted to meet the challenges of getting them off to college alone….. Food became my weakest link, my comfort and my coping mechanism . Now at 51 I am 80-100 lbs overweight and have transferred all that harshness and judgement I held about my mother’s situation back onto myself . A friend just told me yesterday that I am way to hard on myself and take all the fun out of trying to be healthy. Sigh. Time for a different path . For fun today I am gonna dance to some great music and meditate also.
• Tiffany

  I think one of my biggest struggles is hating my body Evan after all it has done for me. It got me through basic training, it gave me my two kids and many more and most the time I just think about how I need to fix it instead of take care of it. For fun I am going to try the just dance app on my Apple TV I downloaded but have been to embarrassed to try around my family. I noticed while eating I like the natural texture of fresh ingredients more than those of overalls processed stuff.
• laura

  It occurred to me the other day that I have now been heavy for almost half of my life – I went from never thinking abut my weight, size or what I ate to being 50 lb overweight pretty quickly (1.5 years).My weight fluctuates over the years but I’m back up to an all time high. I believe it has to do with my happiness and stress. But really – when is the stress every going to be truly gone.My life is on hold of the weight to come off but it’s not moving.I’m sad, embarrassed, self-conscious and ashamed.

  I might head tot the steam room and jacuzzi tomorrow at the gym for fun.

  And I will eat without distraction.
• Marilyn

  Gosh, who knew it would be so hard to think of a fun thing to do…..all the excuses why I couldn’t rushed in first, closely followed by all the fun food things I could do and/or eat.
  I love dancing so tomorrow I will dance…and sing out loud….and wear red lipstick ??? check back soon ???
• Meredith

  My relationship with my body has been one of general self loathing since my early 20s. I had my eldest at 21 and have yoyo’ed ever since. I’ve seen some success with WW; Jenny Craig; Atkins but inevitably I always slipped back into poor eating habits. I suffer from IBS and since being diagnosed I have learned a lot more around not letting food control me. I don’t eat carbs or sugar 95%of the time because it has such a profound negative effect on my body that I can no longer ignore. I don’t feel the need to snack, & I dont think about food all day long anymore. I eat without distractions and at the table at night with my beautiful family. I’m barely sick anymore, I deal with stress much better. I still have myweight struggles, but these are more based on emotions & portion sizes rather than cravings. Now I need to work on living life to keep me mentally well which, as you say,will aid me inmaintaining my physical wellbeing. Would I like to lose weight?Yes…but seeing your video today hit the right chords. My husband thinks I’m the most gorgeous woman alive, so why don’t I? Enough! Today I actually took a lunch break at work & met a friend for lunch. It was truly fun and made my day feel so much fuller & go faster.
  P.S: my husband listened to the video too, he said you were very inspiring. Secretly I suspect he was thinking “I’ve been saying this to you for years!”
• Chris

  I was never really happy with my body. Especially not in my 20s when I was fitter and weighed less, which is ironic. I didn’t like my boobs (too big), my chest (too big and too short), my skin. Then a man came along that really appreciated my body and I felt great and desired and powerful, I found that I was actually more attractive than I thought I was and that a man could want me, what an amazing thing. But in this relationship I also learned how humiliating it was to be critized for my weight. This whole thing never lasted and I found a new love but I still struggle with feeling “too fat” or “not thin enough to have the right to feel sexy.”
  Sarah, I loved your first video and I really want to see what you have to say about the other topics like body and career, you are such a great role model! Oh, and I still have to find out what I will do for fun today.
• Sharon

  My weight has always been up and down, Today imwent to a career expo,
• Elizabeth

  1) My number 1 struggle with my body has been cravings & learning how to handle them
  2) For fun today I’m going to enjoy a lovely meal at the beach cafe with my father, and attend my dance class later this evening.
  3) I regularly eat without distraction already. I find this helps a lot especially when washed down with a nice glass of water or orange juice.
• Ryan

  I feel like giving you a hug. Your video validated what I knew to be true and what motivated me to start my blog last year – that I am not alone! That I am not some crazy girl who want get her crap together! Last year was all about getting real with my relationship with food and finally stopping the insanity of dieting and overexericising. I have been struggling with my weight since I was 14 and now I’m 35. I’ve lost and gained back 30 pounds twice now. And that was enough for me to realize that I need to find a new path. Last year a lot of light bulbs and ah-hah moments happened and Thank God for that. Bit just because you realize that you need a change and you understand why, doesn’t mean it happens overnight. Which brings me here. I’m a work in progressive and an eager student and anyone who can teach me is welcome on my space. As far as my body struggle go, my issues have always been about my thighs and my cellulite. The most tragic thing is that these struggles led me away from something I used to love so deeply – swimming. I hope I can find the courage to bring that back into my life one day soon. For fun, today I will go on a walk in my neighborhood and listen to a podcast, it has become my most recent favourite past time and it is very indicative of change in me because I used to think that I couldn’t go for a walk and that I must always run because every needed to be a workout to burn calories. But not anymore. I have freed myself of thst thought but I need to continue to practice in the daily living of my life. To say Thank to i for all that you shared in your video seems like the understatement of the year. But thank you nonetheless. I appreciate it more than you know.
• Kelly

  Fantastic video. I am not really looking to weigh less. My weight has always fluctuated but the thing that I have never really got is truely loving my body & being happy in my own skin. I have definitely had the when I’m smaller thoughts but then when I’ve got there am still not 100% confident in my body.

  I try to eat without distraction & was really good at it prior to children thanks for the reminder.

  For fun I love to dance ? Shake your booty do whatever feels good style
• Rosanne

  I have good moments and bad moments in relationship to my body. Currently going through a rough patch in liking my physical body. It has changed so much after kids, and what I did in my 20’s to keep fit I don’t really have time fo. I’m not willing to let my whole life be about exercise and food deprivation. So I love what you are talking about here, Sarah! I believe you are onto something incredible.
  Today I started the process of up cycling a church pew as my outlet for fun. Got to do it in the sun with my kiddos playing in the yard around me….Such a beautiful day…
• Julie

  Hi enjoyed your video thanks- these may be in a different order but here goes….

  1 for fun I went to see thriller live with my children and loved it!

  2 my thoughts on my body is I’d like my body size to be like it was when I was from when I was age 18-2.

  3 my food today was delicious I enjoyed every mouthful, slowly and I found I didn’t want anything else after….
• Niska

  I’ve always been a bigger person, I’ve never been happy with that but getting the motivation and determination up when you cant see any change has always been a big thing for me, also I love food and probably have a unhealthy relationship there too. I want to love me and the way that I am as I don’t want my daughter (who has my shape) to have the hang-ups I have and I want her to love herself.
• Rachel

  my relationship with my body is more difficult ….honestly Ive never really thought about it and that s probably where the problem stems from. My body is just there to get me from A to B….my appearance has never really been a major factor either. I’m not a girlie girl so never took a great deal of interest in how I look. I regret both of these things now and want to make steps to make the most of what I have now and for the future ….I just need to start thinking about myself and my actions rather than being in a rush for everything ….
• Rachel

  I loved this video …it gave me so much to think about. Today I am going to wander around a local fruit and veg street market with my baby girl, select local, seasonal FRESH foods that we can enjoy this week.
  In addition I am meeting with my best friend this evening which is always fun, what ever we do ….its going to be a great day !
• Serena

  Thanks for sharing your experiences so openly, Sarah. I have been “big” most of my life. My current relationship with my body is that I don’t feel like I am me. I don’t feel that I am the same person I was 10 or so years ago. I have just found out that I have three herniated discs, one impinging on nerves (painful), which makes it difficult to exercise to the intensity I would like. I feel that the “real” me existed between the ages of 21 and 28 yrs. I feel that I was at my ideal weight during these years. If I think back to this time, I ate really well, did a lot of exercise and felt like I had a lot of freedom. I was talking to a friend about this the other day, and she commented that during this period of my life I was eating “intuitively”, that is, eating the way I needed to eat for my body.

  For fun – it is raining here at the moment, I’m going to go and jump in some puddles!
• Natalie

  Thank you so much for this beautiful video and all of your amazing authenticity!
  The number one struggle with my body has been comparison. Comparing my body today to by 10 years ago body! Or what my ego thinks my future body should look like.
  And for fun… Yessss!!
  Today I chose to put on a long flowy skirt and dance with an eight year old girl to Gregory Portor songs. Just letting myself feel girly and free! Felt SO good!
  Thanks again for all the inspiration and the wonderful nudge to live more!!
• Zoe

  Feeling bad about my life in so many ways at the moment, weight, relationships etc. Found this program and it sounds exactly what I need to start changing my life around ? Can’t remember the last time I had real fun, going to get back on my road bike tonight and take a picnic tea. Haven’t really ridden the bike for two years and used to love it…..so back to it tonight ?
• Kirsty

  My relationship with my body had always been quite negative. I hated it. I’ve always been fairly slim and haven’t really had weight problems so on the surface there shouldn’t have been a problem, but I just couldn’t find anything to like about it. People would compliment me on my figure and weirdly, that would make me spiral down into more negative thoughts. I didn’t feel like I deserved an compliments, thought they were wrong. I though my body was disgusting, that it wasn’t attractive and no one would like it. I strictly controlled what I ate as a way of trying to take back control of my feelings. It didn’t work. It never worked really.
  Now I’m in a much better place. I’m learning to love my body, and have found that if I treat it well, it treats me well in return. I’m getting into excersize after being a major fitness-phobe all my life and I’m finding this does wonders for my mood which in turn, means I give my body the respect and love it deserves! Your last challenge really kicked this off for me – thank you for doing what you do!

  For fun, I’m going to make time for a really long phone call with my best friend x
• Lorelei

  Today, I unexpectantly told I. Igbo be celiac. I know I’ve had problems for years eating wheat, actually horrendous . But I didn’t want to part of the ” gluten free” trend…so I dealt with it myself. Until I repeatedly was diagnosed as anemic, and maybe my body isn’t absorbing nutrients, iron as it should. And maybe this is what I need to treat my body better, because I do indulge sometimes…maybe a diagnosis is what I needed….