Respect Your Body - Intuitive Eating Principle 8
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Diet culture has many ways of telling us that we should always be pushing to be the smallest, thinnest version of ourselves. But the truth is, we have no way to know if the smallest version of ourself is actually our healthiest version.
And even if everyone ate the exact same foods and moved their bodies the exact same way, we would still all look very different. Bodies are diverse! And all bodies, regardless of their size, deserve respect and dignity.
Respect your body is the is the eighth principle of a framework known as Intuitive Eating. If you’d like to learn more about the first seven principles, check out these posts:
What is intuitive eating?
Intuitive eating is a non-diet approach to eating that was developed by two registered dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. There are 10 principles of intuitive eating with a goal of helping you improve your relationship with food and your body.
Reject the diet mentality
Honor your hunger
Make peace with food
Challenge the food police
Discover the satisfaction factor
Feel your fullness
Cope with your emotions with kindness
Respect your body
Movement - feel the difference
Honor your health - gentle nutrition
New to intuitive eating and want to learn more? Check out this blog post.
Your body is not the problem
The problem is not your body, it’s our fatphobic culture. Fatphobia is everywhere, including:
Schools (weighing kids in gym class, BMI taught in health class)
Social media (harsh comments on one's weight, idealizing thin influencers)
Grocery stores ("thin" and "skinny" marketing terms, magazine covers shaming women in midsized and fat bodies)
Healthcare (weight stigma, the use of BMI, pushing weight loss meds)
Fashion and beauty industry (models often fit the "ideal" very thin look and are shamed if they don't)
Friends and family (commenting on one's weight and food choices)
The bottom line is there are so many people telling you that your body is the problem, so of course you may start to believe it.
Weight stigma
Weight stigma is internalized negative attitudes and discriminatory acts targeted towards individuals because of their size, shape, or weight. Weight stigma occurs at very high rates and affects people in large bodies all the time. Some examples of weight stigma include:
Receiving negative comments about your weight, including from healthcare professionals.
Poor treatment by coworkers or bosses because of your size or shape.
Higher insurance premiums because of weight.
Being required to lose weight for a medical procedure, such as a joint replacement, organ transplant, or infertility treatment.
Body image
Most of us are exceptional at hating our bodies. Body acceptance and respect is no easy feat! Many people fear that accepting their body means they are giving up and accepting defeat. However, the opposite is true. Body acceptance is not the same as disregarding your body. It is about treating it with respect and appreciation.
It's normal to feel unsure about body respect. It may just feel wrong to stop trying to change your body. But this is going to be an essential step to making peace with food. If you are constantly at war with your body, this will make it nearly impossible to listen to your body's hunger and fullness cues.
Check out this blog post for more body image tips.
How to respect your body
Even if you don’t always love how your body looks or feels, it is still important to show your body respect. There are a few ways that you can practice this.
Wear comfy clothes
How can you be comfortable in your body if you have clothes on that are constantly pinching, riding up, and constricting?
Remember, it is the job of the clothes to fit your body, not the other way around. You don't need to "wait until you lose weight" to get clothes that fit. As able, wear clothes that you enjoy - find your style and favorite colors. You don't have to settle for clothes you don't like because of your shape (disclaimer - it is especially difficult for those in larger bodies to find clothes that fit and match their style. Many clothing companies cater to thin customers. Hopefully retailers will continue to improve on this!).
Ditch the scale
Weighing yourself can make it difficult to be present with your current body. If you are weighing yourself with hopes that the number will go down, this is not showing respect to your current body.
Remember that your weight is not equivalent to your health. Read this post to learn more about that.
Focus on non-scale victories instead! Are you sleeping better? Managing stress well? Eating more fruits and vegetables? Have lab values improved? These are all health promoting factors that can improve independently of weight.
Stop body checking
Body checking is when you “check” your body to see how it has changed. It often involves compulsive scrutinizing, monitoring, and/or tracking your body’s shape, size, or weight. Body checking may seem innocent enough, but it very well may be standing in the way of you making peace with food and your body.
Read more about body checking in this post.
Stop body bashing
You might be surprised how often you criticize your body or the bodies of others. It is difficult to show body respect to a body that you regularly criticize.
Instead of focusing on what you don't like about your body, try to speak kindly to yourself instead.
Ditch the “shedding for the wedding” mentality
It's natural to want to look your best for special occasions (weddings, vacation, class reunions, holiday party, etc.) but this should not involve shrinking your body. Remember that dieting or even the plan to start a diet can get you wrapped up in the restrict-binge cycle.
Don't shop for your "future body". Shop for what fits now (or purchase that special outfit closer to the date).
If anyone at the party/gathering is focused on your body size rather than the much more interesting traits you are bringing to the table - that's on them!
Respect body diversity
No matter what diet culture says, humans come in all shapes and sizes. There are many factors (including genetics) that factor into one's weight and body size.
You cannot assume that if someone is in a larger body that they are overeating or physically inactive just like you cannot assume that someone in a smaller body is "healthy".
In the words of the authors of Intuitive Eating, "Check your body bias at the door".
Do nice things for your body
You deserve to be pampered! With the resources you have, do things that feel good for your body.
Schedule a massage
Use a sauna or hot tub
Buy lotions that you enjoy the smell and feel of
Take baths with bath salts and bath oils (bonus if there is dim lighting and a glass of your favorite beverage)
The set point weigh theory
The set point weight theory states that our bodies have a set point weight that they WANT to be at and no matter how hard we try to change it (aka through dieting), our biology is going to fight us to get to that weight. Your body’s set point a range that your body can maintain effortlessly without micromanaging.
Knowing that there is a biological happy place that your body wants to be at may be helpful to know as you are removing yourself from diet culture. If you’d like to learn more about the set point weight theory, read this post here.
What to do if you still want to lose weight
It is totally understandable that you may still have desires for weight loss, even if you know that pursing weight loss has only left you burned in the past. We are fed the narrative of weight loss constantly. Reading this blog post likely is not going to be the one thing that completely shifts your mindset. There are a few things you can do to further make peace with your body size:
Continue to challenge this belief. Ask yourself how you can improve your health without any regards for the number on the scale.
Clean up your social media feeds. Unfollow those that support the narrative that thinner = healthier.
Continue to read and/or listen to information about the topic of weight science. Get curious!
Take baby steps! You do not need to dive in head first.
Bottom line
Respect your body is the eighth principle of intuitive eating. Practicing this principle will help you to improve your body image and learn how to take care of your body, regardless of your body size.
If you are looking for more support on your journey of ditching the diets, I’d love to support you inside my signature membership, The Nutrition Reboot.
Up next
Principle 9: Feel the Difference of Joyful Movement
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