Are you feeling like a failure because you’ve gained weight since you started intuitive eating?
If so, you’re not alone.
One of the most common frustrations women share with me is that they believe their bodies should be smaller because at a time in their past they weighed less than they do now.
The fact that they physically can be smaller means that being smaller is what they should be.
Our bodies are made to change and do change size and shape for a number of reasons over the course of life.
I want to share one of those reasons with you today.
If you stop restricting, start eating intuitively, and experience some weight gain, the change in your body shape / size might be because the restrictive behaviors you were previously engaged in were keeping your body below her natural size.
I know our society likes to tell us that weighing less means being healthier and that skinnier means better…
But those blanket statements simply aren’t true.
Your healthy size will never require you to do unhealthy things to maintain it.
I want to share something with you, so that you know that you’re not alone:
I weigh more today than I did when I was restricting my food and over exercising.
Yes, there were hard moments where I had to mourn a pair of jeans I’d never wear again or where I had to get used to seeing less bone and more softness in my reflection in the mirror.
But, the discomfort of the change didn’t mean the change was wrong.
The weight gain wasn’t what needed to be different. My mindset around what ‘healthy’ meant did.
If you’ve been restricting food and / or over exercising and you’re finally choosing to make peace with food, find joy in movement, and embrace kindness toward your body, you might be experiencing similar body changes.
Any discomfort you’re feeling around those body changes doesn’t make those changes inherently wrong.
Gaining weight isn’t inherently bad.
If you’re letting go of restriction and overexercising and re-learning how to listen to your body, I just wanted to encourage you today.
Your body is super smart and she knows what she’s doing.
