When Finding Peace with Food Feels Like You're Settling
There’s a common misconception that finding peace with food means that you’re giving up on your body. That having freedom somehow means that we are accepting that we’ll never love our body and that we’re just settling.
Many of my clients come to me and on some level they feel hopeless. They’re tired and frustrated because they feel like they’ve been spinning their wheels and they feel like failures because they haven’t been able to stick to their diet and they’re just about ready to give up.
So why is this narrative playing in our heads?
The answer is simple but not easy- it’s our beliefs.
We’ve been taught that we can’t have it all. We can’t be healthy AND our natural size. We’ve been taught that we can’t be happy AND our natural size.
We’ve also been taught:
Skinny= healthy
Skinny= beautiful
Skinny= worthy
Skinny= better
Holding these beliefs means that the idea of accepting your body at its natural size means giving up on ever feeling healthy, beautiful, and worthy.
That definitely feels like settling, so can you understand why it’s been so hard to get there? No one would intentionally choose to feel worthless.
When I work with my clients there is so much to unpack there, because we are all holding our own unique beliefs that create our own experience of life and health.
How do you process that fact that this diet mentality you’ve carried for decades wasn’t actually serving you?
What happens when your body’s natural size is bigger than what you would like it to be?
And yes, how do you break free from all this in a way that leaves you feeling at peace, free, vibrant, and ready to create a life that you actually LOVE?
So how can you start to move toward feeling better AND creating a little more peace and freedom?
First, become aware of the content you consume. Start to notice diet culture in social media, TV, and advertisements. Is it serving you? Is it making you feel bad about yourself?
Take action here. If the content isn’t helping you create the healthiest and happiest version of yourself, unsubscribe, unfollow, and take charge.
Second, change your focus. Where you are coming from is more important than what you’re doing here. When you come from an empowering place, you’re more likely to have empowering behaviors.
Instead of focusing on how your body looks, focus on how it feels
Instead of focusing on weight, focus on health
Instead of dieting choose nourishment
Instead of restriction choose freedom and choice
We are so trained to use outside validation to confirm whether we are doing something right or not. We look in the mirror ten times a day to see if we have a flat belly yet. We weigh ourselves every day “just to make sure we’re on track.”
As I say this, trust that it’s completely normal to feel this way and do these things. Please don’t judge yourself. It’s completely understandable that you’d be stuck, given the diet culture we live in.
When it comes to what we are eating we are also used to using outside validation. Counting and measuring to eat according to a diet is the opposite of connection to your body. Your body will feel different from day to day. Your days will be different and your needs will be different. It is safe to trust your body.
When you choose nourishment instead of dieting, you choose foods that make you feel your best.
Choosing a salad from a place of nourishment might look like you craving something fresh, crunchy, and light. There’s a lot of self-love, freedom and peace in this choice.
Choosing a salad from a place of dieting will leave you feeling restricted, disconnected and totally disempowered. You’ll choose it because you feel like you “have to” instead of because you want to. Sounds painful right?
You deserve to have the health and life you desire. You get to own it, and it can by on your own terms and by your own standards.
When we work together, I become a stand for your health and happiness. I become a stand for empowering you to choose yourself. I show you how to connect to your body and make choices from an empowering place. I help you release all those old beliefs and thought patterns that are holding you back.
You can feel healthy now and you get to create a life that you love now.
If you have been thinking of getting some support for your journey to peace, freedom, and health, what are you waiting for?
Click here to schedule a 1-1 session with me. We’ll connect over the phone and get you some clarity on what your ideal health and life looks like, and exactly what’s getting in the way.You will leave the conversation with a way forward, whether or not we decide to work together. I'm here for you!
xo,
Melissa