As you begin your journey with intuitive eating, you may find that making peace with food seems to be easier than making peace with your body. As we see with many of our clients, overcoming a negative body image is a long process that requires a lot of patience.
We live in a weight-obsessed society that has taught us to hyperfixate on the number on the scale and base our worth around that number. Our internalized weight bias and fatphobia makes it extremely difficult to achieve body respect when we don’t see a specific number on that scale. But, let me tell you, you will not find self-love or acceptance through fad diets or weight loss. Keto, intermittent fasting, Noom, Weight Watchers…no diet is going to improve your self-esteem. Looking a certain way does not guarantee happiness.
So instead of constantly questioning your worth and jumping to the next “quick fix” that diet culture advertises, you can instead choose to respect your body for everything it has given you thus far. No matter what diet culture promises, it’s all bullshit built on the lie that something is wrong with you. There is NOTHING wrong with your body!
I wanted to share this passage from the incredible novel, The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor. This book is an amazing tool to guide you alongside your food freedom journey if you are seeking out an additional resource to help you cultivate body acceptance and self-love.
“As I said at the beginning of the book, you did not come to the planet hating your body. What if you accepted the fact that much of how you view your body and your judgments of it are learned things, messages you have deeply internalized that have created an adversarial relationship? Hating your body is like finding a person you despise and then choosing to spend the rest of your life with them while loathing every moment of the partnership. I know that lots of humans stay in loveless commitments. Not only am I proposing that you should not stay in a loveless partnership; I am also proposing that your partner has been set up. If your body were an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, it would be getting framed for crimes it did not commit. Get out of that damn television show and into living in peace and harmony with the body you have today. Your body need not be a prison sentence.
I am not simply proposing that you make peace with your body because your body shame is making you miserable. I am proposing you do it because it’s making us miserable too. Your children are sad that they have no photos with you. Your teenager is wondering if they, too, will be obligated to hate their body because they see you hating yours. The bodies you share space with are afraid you are judging them with the same venom they have watched you use to judge yourself. Remember that body shame is as contagious as radical self-love. Making peace with your body is your mighty act of revolution. It is your contribution to a changed planet where we might all live unapologetically in the bodies we have.”
Whew, there is a lot to unpack in that passage. You do not have to unload it all today, but I do want to leave you with some reflection questions. Grab a journal, light a candle, brew some tea, and ponder on these questions.
- What have you allowed diet culture to take away from you?
- Where has the pursuit of intentional weight loss gotten you thus far in your life?
- What would your life look like if you stopped apologizing for your body?
If you enjoyed this blog, you may be interested in my other post: How to Build a Better Body Image!
Want more resources?
Click here to check out all the current Find Food Freedom happenings!
Click here to listen to the lasted Find Food Freedom Podcast Episode!
Click here to join our monthly Find Food Freedom membership program!
