I've heard from various sources that this week is Body Appreciation Week. How do you appreciate your body?

I appreciate my body daily by feeding and hydrating it correctly and by letting it move.
I get a minimum of 5-6 servings of fruits and vegeables a day
I drink at least 6 servings of water and often times more.
I eat a variety of foods from lean meats, to dairy and some delicious starches.
I've worked in 4-5 exercise sessions in a week with a variety of cardio and weights.
I get 7-8 hours of sleep on average.

This has been my life for the past 3 months. They say it takes 3 weeks to make a new habit. I didn't just make a habit of eating correctly and exercising, I made a habit of appreciating the only body I will get. So I struggle through workouts so that my body can become strong and powerful. I pass up rich and fatty foods so that I can stop stressing my body with extra weight.

And by showing my body appreciation, I'm slowly able to find new appreciation for my body. Today, after doing Week 3, Day 1 of Couch to 5K, I stood in front of the mirrors, a weight in each hand to work on my arms and I appreciated how I looked. I was sweaty and smelly and my hair was a mess and I could appreciate the fact that slowly, my body is moving from a ball shape.

I work really hard to stay a positive person. When someone comes to me because they are having a bad day, I want to find a silver lining for them; something to help them get just a little bit of happiness and yesterday I didn't have that. To work out and eat correctly and to not lose any weight over a week had me down to the point where I just wanted to curl up and cry. And the amazing thing is, the very next day, I could look in the mirror, staring at myself looking absolutely horrible and appreciate my body.

So, even when it is hard, or it sucks to say no, it is worth it to me to keep appreciating my body. Any day that I can look in the mirror and see something positive staring back, I'll trade chocolate for that. I'll trade, ice cream, soda, you name it. Because first and foremost, I need to remember to appreciate my body.

So, again I ask: How do you appreciate your body?

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison