Love the Body You Have: Begin to appreciate what and who you see in the mirror.

Daryl Perry

Love the Body You Have, hosted by Daryl Perry of Your Level Fitness, helps you navigate the questions so many of us quietly ask ourselves. Why am I so hard on my body? Why doesn't losing weight automatically improve how I see myself? How can I appreciate my body while still working toward my fitness goals? Through conversations about body image, confidence, self acceptance, fitness, and mindset, each episode will help you build a healthier relationship with yourself while creating a forever active lifestyle that reflects who you are, not who you think you're supposed to be.

  1. 13h ago

    Body Shame and Self Worth: What Is Really Driving How You See Yourself?

    Why do you feel insecure or embarrassed about your body? There probably isn't one simple answer. In this episode, I'm exploring what might exist underneath the anxiety, guilt, shame, and self consciousness so many of us experience around our bodies. While we can have similar experiences, the combination of things that created your relationship with your body is going to be individual to you. Maybe societal body standards have played a role. Maybe you've spent years comparing yourself to other people. Maybe you're comparing your current body to a previous version of yourself. There may be comments you've heard, experiences you've had, or beliefs you've developed about what your appearance supposedly says about you as a person. And the standards themselves keep changing. Trying to keep up with the body you're supposedly expected to have can become an endless pursuit, especially when trends and messages are constantly being put in front of us. That's why I think we have to look underneath the surface. Why do you see yourself the way you currently do? And just as importantly, how would you like to see yourself? Once we get clearer about those two points, we have somewhere to start. This isn't about replacing everything with fluffy positive statements or pretending negative thoughts will disappear. It's about intentionally developing a more supportive, nurturing, appreciative, and loving relationship with yourself. One simple practice I've talked about is spending 60 seconds in front of the mirror and intentionally building yourself up. Over time, you're creating another way of seeing who and what is looking back at you. The negative thoughts may still show up. The difference is that you can begin noticing them, stepping back, redirecting yourself, and moving forward without automatically accepting every critical thought as the truth. And while we're talking about this through the lens of body image and fitness, the real payoff can extend far beyond your body. The goal is to create a calmer place inside your own mind from which you can pursue your health, fitness, and life. Working with a therapist or counselor can also provide support as you untangle the experiences, thoughts, and beliefs that have shaped how you see yourself. Continue the conversation around body image by joining the Your Level Fitness live streams. yourlevelfitness.com/stream

  2. 1d ago

    Negative Self Talk: Where Did Your Inner Critic Come From?

    Have you ever said, “Nobody is as hard on me as I am on myself”? Your inner critic can become so familiar and so loud that eventually it feels completely like your own voice. But did it actually start with you? In this episode, I’m exploring where our inner critic may come from, how negative beliefs about ourselves get reinforced over time, and how we can intentionally begin creating a different way of seeing ourselves. Think back far enough and there may have been a time when you weren't constantly evaluating yourself. You were curious. You interacted with people. You tried things without immediately questioning what everything said about you. Then comments happen. Experiences happen. Someone says something they may forget five minutes later, but you might carry it for decades. Eventually, someone else's words can start sounding like your own voice. From there, we start looking for evidence. Once we've developed a particular belief about ourselves, it's incredibly easy to notice the experiences that reinforce it. We can even reinterpret situations until they fit the story we've already learned to tell ourselves. Eventually, we know exactly where our deepest insecurities are, and our inner critic knows exactly where to hit us. And that voice can become especially loud when life is uncertain, when things aren't going well, or even when things are going really well. So how do we start changing it? I think we have to be intentional. Instead of simply trying to drown out negative thoughts, decide how you want to begin seeing yourself. Then start reinforcing that perspective in your own voice. One way to begin is with what I call the Body Noise Challenge. Stand in front of the mirror for no more than 60 seconds. Find one thing you genuinely appreciate about yourself. It can be something about your physical appearance, but it can also be something about the person you see underneath the surface. Then start building from there. You spent years reinforcing one way of seeing yourself. You can begin reinforcing another. The inner critic may still show up. The goal isn't perfection. It's creating another voice and another perspective you can redirect yourself toward until appreciating yourself starts becoming the place you naturally return to. Continue the conversation around body image by joining the Your Level Fitness live streams. yourlevelfitness.com/stream

  3. 2d ago

    Body Image and Self Consciousness: Why Does It Feel Like Everyone Is Looking at You?

    Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt like everyone was looking at you? Maybe you felt like people were sizing you up, noticing the parts of your body you're insecure about, or making the same critical judgments about you that you've already made about yourself. In this episode, I want to explore what might actually be happening in those moments. What if the fear of being judged has less to do with what other people are thinking and more to do with what we're already thinking about ourselves? We all have insecurities, including insecurities about our appearance and deeper insecurities about who we are. Sometimes we assume other people can see those things and are evaluating us through the same critical lens we're using on ourselves. But there's another possibility. They might be thinking about themselves. They might be wondering what you're thinking about them. They might be worried about their body, their appearance, or their own insecurities. We can end up with people carrying around their own internal criticism while simultaneously assuming everyone else is focused on them. And yes, some people really are critical of others. But even then, the narratives someone creates about you can say much more about their relationship with themselves than they do about you. The goal isn't to convince yourself that nobody will ever look at you or judge you. It's to build a relationship with yourself where someone else's judgment doesn't get to determine how you see yourself. I also share a simple anchor statement you can use when you feel yourself getting pulled into that mental tug of war. This isn't about me. That statement can help separate you from someone else's potential judgment. But it can also create some distance between you and your own self criticism. You can notice the thought without automatically accepting it as the truth. Over time, the goal is to create another way of seeing yourself. One that's more grounded, appreciative, loving, and at ease with who and what you see in the mirror. Continue the conversation around body image by joining the Your Level Fitness live streams. yourlevelfitness.com/stream

  4. 3d ago

    Body Comparison and Self Worth: What Are You Really Comparing?

    Why do we compare our bodies to other people? I’m not sure comparison is actually about the other person as much as we think it is. In this episode, I’m exploring the idea that we may use someone else’s appearance to magnify insecurities we already have about ourselves. We notice someone’s body, or one particular part of their body, and within seconds we can create an entire story about what their life must be like and what our life would be like if only we looked more like them. But how much of that story is actually about them? Body comparison may tell us much more about how we see ourselves than how we see someone else. I talk about why simply telling yourself to stop comparing isn't always enough. Logically, we know we don't have the full context of someone else's life. Emotionally, however, comparison can still hit hard. Instead of criticizing yourself for having those thoughts, I want you to get curious about them. What did you notice? What did you immediately tell yourself? What emotions came with it? And one of the biggest questions you can ask is, what do I believe looking like that person would actually do for me? Maybe you believe you'd finally feel confident. Maybe you'd feel attractive, accepted, worthy, or comfortable in your own skin. Whatever your answer is, you don't need to be ashamed of it. You deserve to know what you're actually looking for. From there, we can begin shifting the focus away from someone else's body and back toward our relationship with ourselves. This isn't about never experiencing comparison again. It's about developing another way of seeing yourself, learning to redirect the scripts you've been repeating, and becoming more at ease with who and what you see in the mirror. You are building your life. You are running your race. And the more comfortable you become with yourself, the less power somebody else's appearance needs to have over how you feel about your own. Continue the conversation around body image by joining the Your Level Fitness live streams. yourlevelfitness.com/stream

  5. 6d ago

    Why Does My Body Image Change From Day to Day?

    Why can you look in the mirror one day and feel pretty good about what you see, then look again another day, or even later that same day, and feel completely different? Your body image fluctuates. Sometimes those shifts are subtle. Other times they're impossible to miss. In this episode, I talk about why I think our emotions play such an important role in how we experience our bodies and what we see when we look in the mirror. Because you're not only seeing what is in the mirror. You're also seeing who is in the mirror. How you're feeling about yourself, what's happening elsewhere in your life, and emotions you may not have fully acknowledged can all influence the way you experience your appearance in that moment. That's why I don't think the answer is simply trying to logic your way out of every negative thought. Logic can help you put what you're experiencing into perspective. But sometimes you also need to acknowledge what you're feeling. Sit with it. Give yourself an opportunity to understand where it might be coming from. Then you can begin working through it. A difficult body image day doesn't necessarily mean you've lost progress in the relationship you're building with yourself. Your emotions fluctuate, and the way you experience yourself can fluctuate with them. Learning to recognize that can help you better understand what you're actually seeing and feeling when you look in the mirror. If you want to share your thoughts, email me at Daryl@YourLevelFitness.com. Sign up for the Your Level Fitness live streams to continue the conversation around body image: yourlevelfitness.com/stream

  6. Aug 13

    Why Are We So Critical of Our Bodies?

    Why Am I So Critical of My Body? For this episode, I like the direct question format because it matches the exact problem you're addressing. It also creates a natural entry point for someone who may not be searching specifically for terms like "body image" or "self perception," but is trying to understand why they're so hard on themselves. Episode Description Why are you so critical of who and what you see in the mirror? That way of seeing yourself didn't come from nowhere. In this episode, I talk about how the relationship we have with our bodies can start developing much earlier than we realize. Messages we receive, things we experience, and the way we learn to see ourselves can all contribute to a story that gets reinforced over and over again. Eventually, we may stop questioning it. We start treating the way we see ourselves as truth. But once you start understanding where that critical voice came from, you have an opportunity to decide where you want to go from here. That's where loving the body you have comes in. It can start with a choice, but making that choice doesn't instantly erase everything you've thought about yourself for years. You have to begin creating and reinforcing another way of seeing yourself. Your old thoughts may still show up. That's okay. You're building an alternative way of seeing yourself that you can choose and return to. As you continue practicing it, that new perspective can become more familiar. Eventually, it can become the place you naturally fall back to, while the old critical thoughts become the ones you recognize and redirect when they appear. You learned and reinforced one way of seeing yourself. You can start reinforcing another one. Sign up for the Your Level Fitness live streams to continue the conversation around body image: yourlevelfitness.com/stream

  7. Aug 12

    How Do You Really See Yourself?

    How do you actually see yourself? Not just what you like or don't like about your appearance. How do you see yourself as a whole? That's the starting point in this episode. Before trying to improve your body image, I think it's important to get clear on where you are right now. If you take an honest look at how you see yourself and you're comfortable with it, great. You don't need to create a problem that isn't there. But if you don't like what you see in the mirror or the way you talk to yourself, the next question becomes, how would you like to see yourself instead? From there, we can go another layer deeper. Why is seeing yourself that way so important to you? What's driving the change you're looking for? Those questions may uncover some uncomfortable things. They may also help you recognize where your own wants end and where years of outside messaging, expectations, marketing, and insecurities begin. I also share a practical place to start changing that relationship, the mirror. Take 60 seconds and intentionally practice building yourself up instead of tearing yourself down. It may feel unnatural at first. That's okay. If you've spent years practicing one way of seeing yourself, cultivating a different way is going to take time. And if your appearance currently carries a lot of your sense of worth, start exploring the other parts of yourself you appreciate. If you struggle to identify those things right now, that doesn't have to be the end of the exercise. You can cultivate them. The old thoughts may still show up. The difference is that you're developing another way of seeing yourself that you can return to. If you want to continue the conversation around body image, join the Your Level Fitness live streams: yourlevelfitness.com/stream

  8. Aug 11

    What Does a Healthy Relationship With Your Body Look Like?

    What does a healthy relationship with your body actually look like? I think that answer is going to be personal to you. But for me, it starts with appreciating who and what you see in the mirror and learning to become your own biggest supporter. That doesn't mean you're going to love everything you see every day. You're still going to have thoughts, feelings, insecurities, and moments when you aren't feeling great about yourself. That's okay. You can sit with those feelings, observe them, redirect them when you're ready, and continue working on how you see yourself. In this episode, I talk about why I believe the relationship you have with yourself is the most important relationship you have, and why building that relationship means learning to appreciate yourself as you evolve. That includes aging. It also includes recognizing that wanting to change something about your appearance doesn't automatically mean you have an unhealthy relationship with your body. You can want to look different. You can have physical goals. You can do things that help you look younger. The question worth exploring is what's driving those choices? Are you changing your appearance because it's simply how you'd like to look? Or are you hoping that changing your appearance will finally give you the worth, value, confidence, or acceptance you're looking for? You might fall somewhere in between. The goal isn't to create another absolute. It's to understand yourself well enough to recognize what's driving the choices you're making and continue building a relationship with yourself that goes deeper than your appearance. If you want to share your perspective, email me at Daryl@YourLevelFitness.com. If you want to continue the conversation around body image, join the Your Level Fitness live streams: yourlevelfitness.com/stream

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Love the Body You Have, hosted by Daryl Perry of Your Level Fitness, helps you navigate the questions so many of us quietly ask ourselves. Why am I so hard on my body? Why doesn't losing weight automatically improve how I see myself? How can I appreciate my body while still working toward my fitness goals? Through conversations about body image, confidence, self acceptance, fitness, and mindset, each episode will help you build a healthier relationship with yourself while creating a forever active lifestyle that reflects who you are, not who you think you're supposed to be.

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