I listened to an interview with a very well known weight loss guru recently and she referred to living in a “right-sized body”.
I thought to myself, “right-sized body… right-sized body… well, if there is a right-sized body, there must be a wrong-sized body and that must be where most of us live.”
I immediately felt judged!
And the unholy trinity played in my head – Guilt, Shame and Embarrassment for not having a “right-sized body”. For having a wrong-sized body.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.
Now, look… I am all for healthy eating.
And moving your body on a regular basis.
I totally believe in this and do it regularly.
And I’m not perfect with either one.
At this point in my life, I choose to eat healthy and unhealthy. Meaning I eat healthy the majority of the time and eat junk food sometimes.
I’m not choosing to live a specific food plan and this means my body is bigger than it would be if I chose to eat in a more structured way. But, I don’t. (Actually I’m a big proponent for Health at Every Size (https://haescommunity.com/).
Living a healthy lifestyle, to me, means learning to love and accept the body that you are in today, as well as learning to handle the trials and tribulations of life – the emotions, stress, worry, etc. It also means eating to enjoy food and life and moving for the pure fun of it, as well as spiritual and emotional growth. All of that may or may not include eating in a specific way.*
I’ve worked with clients to heal their emotional eating who lost physical weight, either while or after working with me. I’ve also worked with clients for the same reason who did not lose physical weight (both lost tons of emotional weight or baggage). I see both as a success if they are happier and living a more fulfilling life.
So please forgive my rant, but body judgment needs to end, just like racial or gender biases.
OK, getting off my soapbox now.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this so please email me; let me know what you think.
*Please know that this blog post is not to shame any one into thinking and feeling like their way of eating is the wrong way. If you have found an eating plan that works for you, please continue. I want to ensure that there are no misunderstandings about that.