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As Americans, it’s part of our collective conscience to never be satisfied, to always want more.

Generalizing, we’re taught from a young age to always be our best: to get As; to win the football game; to bring home the Gold. We’re encouraged to make money; to buy a nice home.

We’re a very driven people, and you could argue that is what has led to our success as a nation (and also to our potential downfall in the eyes of much of the world, but I’ll save that for a politically-charged commentary elsewhere!)

But when it comes to weight loss and disordered eating issues, “the American way” is truly a double-edged sword, at least in my eyes. Our psyche tells us to keep going, lose more weight…but doesn’t that seek to fuel this kind of behavior?

What if we looked in the mirror at our hips with maybe just a little extra padding, or our thighs that sort of rub together, and didn’t hate on ourselves … but rather saw past physical presence and looked back satisfied on our accomplishments?

Would we be going against the grain, by embracing the present versus striving for something better in the future?

I don’t know. (more…)