How to accept weight gain in recovery
This is a question I get almost every single day:
How did you learn to accept your body after gaining all this weight in your recovery?
It was not easy seeing my body change so drastically. During the first 2 months of my recovery, I put on about a third of my body weight. I talk all about the physical side effects of this weight gain in this article, especially when it came to my digestion.
However, when it comes to the mental side effects of that weight gain, it is a whole other story.
We are taught than weight gain = lazy
The reason weight gain is so challenging (mentally) is that we believe other people perceive us as lazy, or that they think we “let ourselves go”.
It really comes down to being afraid about what people will think or say about us. That is why it is SO important to work on not placing any value on other people’s opinions first and foremost. But it is also important to overcome our own beliefs about what a bigger body stands for. Chances are, your mindset is still stuck in the belief that thinner is better, so it is vital for your mental health to challenge that belief.
How to challenge the belief that weight gain is bad
I want you to ask yourself the following question:
Aside from the weight I have gained, what are some other things I am gaining back in my recovery?
Is it date nights with your partner? Play dates with your kids? Fun nights out with your friends? Vacations where you are fully present and not worried about the food that is being served? Joyful holiday seasons without fear foods?
Write all of it down right now and look at it, because it is SO powerful to gain perspective on what your weight gain actually means for the quality of your life.
My weight gain gave me my life back
I remember writing into my journal that aside from gaining weight, I have also gained my life back.
It was so powerful to read this on a piece of paper and really let it sink in.
When I am old, I want to look back on my life and see a person that lived her life to the fullest. Not a person that struggled with accepting herself and let her life go by without participating in it.
Reminding myself of how I want to live my life and how my disordered eating behaviours held me back from living it truly allowed me to have more compassion for my weight gain.
It starts with compassion and neutrality
Once you are at a place where you truly practice compassion for yourself, you will find yourself having a more neutral approach to your weight gain.
Over time, this neutrality becomes acceptance and respect for your body. Your body has been through so much, yet here it is, still fighting for you.
Don’t take your body for granted my friend. It is doing SO much for you.
Strive for neutrality first, then let the acceptance and self-love-piece come in naturally over time.
