Body Love Wellness
Body Love Wellness
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
When I heard about Medicinal Marzipan’s Teen Week, I felt conflicted immediately. I wanted to write about what it was like for me as a teen. I wanted to give amazing advice that I wish I’d heard back then. But I also thought, does this mean I’m going to have to revisit that really difficult time in my life?
But I’m diving in, so here goes.
I was a pretty solid size 14/16 throughout high school, which, at time, I thought was immensely fat. Looking back, I realize that a lot of my behavior was about deflecting attention from my fatness. I was funny and always made people laugh (if I didn’t have them laughing with me, they’d be laughing at me, right?). I also put immense pressure on myself to have perfect grades, which I used to think was all about getting a full scholarship to college. I realize now that this perfectionist tendency is really typical of people with disordered eating behaviors. I had been on and off diets from a very young age, so my perception of my body was that it was wrong, bad, shameful etc. When you feel ashamed of your desperately imperfect body, it would make sense that you would need validation through something else. For me, it was being at the top of my class and being a leader in every extra-curricular activity that didn’t involve throwing a ball.
So I wanted to share some tips that I wish I had read back then. I hope they’re helpful.
1) Being Perfect Is Overrated — Being perfect is not only overrated, it’s impossible. And you don’t have to be really good at something to deflect attention from your body’s imperfections. No one’s body is perfect. No one’s. Even models get airbrushed like crazy. Rather than trying to be perfect, try the best you can to be happy. Do the best you can to study what really interests you, to be around people who are fun and non-judgmental, to be a little different and weird if it’s what you want. What’s different and weird in high school is often brilliant and creative when you’re older.
2) Take All Advice With Huge Grains Of Salt (including my advice) — A lot of people with varying levels of authority over you will pressure you to change your body. One particular scary (and completely wrong) bit of advice that fat kids get is “If you continue to be fat, you’ll be dead by the time you’re __.” That is
complete and total bullshit. Your body, whatever shape or size it may be is not a ticking time bomb. You have no designated expiration date stamped on your belly. You’re body is truly fabulous and perfect (see above). Treat it with love and you will do better than most.
3) Whatever You Do, Don’t Diet – I wrote a book with 25 reasons not to diet, and I had to cut down the list. But in a nutshell, dieting sets you up for weight yo-yo-ing, crappy self esteem, obsessing about food, and general unhappiness. Don’t start that cycle now. If you already started it, consider just focusing on eating healthfully, enjoying your food, moving your body, and accepting your body. This is the basis of a concept called Health At Every Size®, which is a wonderful and healing alternative to dieting, and is the basis of the work I do.
Please comment below and let me know if these tips are having an impact!
Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/free to get her NEW free gift — Golda’s Top 5 Tips For Loving The Body You Have Right Now!
“I scheduled a session with Golda because I thought she could really help me explore my body issues and learn to love myself how I am. I anticipated spending some time talking about my current body image and some past experiences that have affected it, as well as my goals for the future. Golda helped me map out what my ideas were for how I would like to see myself and treat my body. It was nice using her methods to imagine my future self-image and get some ideas on how to take small steps toward my goals. Anyone who has dreams of having a positive body image, a healthy relationship with food an…”
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