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Occasionally, when it comes up in conversation, I’ve heard some dietitian colleagues agree that a non-diet or intuitive eating approach is the best way to help clients achieve better eating habits…unless they’re really “obese.” Then they should probably lose weight “for their health.” These dietitians are not yet wholly committed to Health at Every Size - HAES®.
The Objective of Life: In my opinion, it is to live a fulfilled life free of pain and suffering. Having said that, hardships are often inevitable. However, I do believe that we can sometimes manifest our own problems in our lives, specifically relating to our bodies. Through my own personal experiences, I have recognized my own body concerns as being tied to preoccupations of my mind. The culture of the mind can play a major role in the organization of one’s life, including the perception of the self. Negative thinking pathways in our minds, like negative self-talk, can lead you to feel like a prisoner in your own body, which I experienced before finding the pathway of recovery and happiness.
“You look healthy.”
I heard this often when I first recovered from anorexia nervosa, and it sent my head whirling with thoughts such as: “What do they mean? How bad did I look before? Am I too healthy?” A simple, seemingly positive remark made me feel confused and irrational. I knew people were trying to make me feel good, tell me in their own ways that they were relieved I had changed my life for the better, but it was hard to accept my changing body; never mind what others thought.
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In a culture that pathologically reduces females to their physiques and profits from their self-perceived flaws, it’s not surprising that this body image narrative has become dominant. While this narrative provides a convenient framework and simple explanations, the assumption that eating disorders arise primarily from dissatisfaction with physical appearance masks the complexity and severity of the disease. This assumption ignores components such as genetic predisposition, psychological factors, and other sociocultural influences. It also eclipses the full spectrum of perspectives that cut across lines of gender, age, race, class, and sexual orientation.
Many transgender, transsexual, and other gender minority (trans) people struggle to attain a positive body image and have an elevated risk of experiencing eating disorders. Perhaps two of the most important issues related to trans people and body image issues are: the lack of trans-affirming body image/eating disorder clinical treatment options, and the pressures to conform to cisgender standards of beauty that confound most trans people.
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Originally posted May 2, 2015: on www.curvyoga.com at: http://www.curvyyoga.com/put-the-hammer-down/
“People often mistakenly think that body acceptance means you never change, but that couldn’t be true even if we wanted it to be. Our bodies are always changing, so acceptance can never be a static thing.”
I just attended the National Eating Disorders Association Conference in San Diego, California, and I think I know what a unicorn must feel like. Let me explain.
Being the partner of someone in eating disorder recovery (I imagine, as I’m always the person in the latter category) can be rough. There’s a lot to consider — from how to compliment their bodies respectfully to how to avoid triggering them when talking about food. And if there’s one thing that complicates this delicate balance even more, it’s sex.
In Western society, the idea of gaining weight is often viewed as the ultimate sin. We associate weight gain with failure, while we view weight loss as a sign of strength. For me, I wanted to get smaller, because I craved acceptance, even though it was acceptance from a superficial place.
As someone who has struggled with body acceptance for a large portion of my life, self-love is a revolutionary concept. When you are told so often and so frequently that who you are and what you look like is: ugly, less than, or not good enough, then telling yourself that you ARE beautiful, that you ARE worth something, that you ARE good enough, is a rebellious act.
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