You Do Not Need to Micromanage Your Body

Give yourself permission to let go of the idea that you need to micromanage your body or your food.  You can trust that your body is right where it needs to be. You don't need a scale to confirm this or tell you otherwise. You can honor your hunger, fullness and satiety cues without counting calories, macros, points or hours in the day. Intuitive eating can help you to relearn to trust your body.

Listen to Your Body with Intuitive Eating

Trust is an interesting concept. It's built by experience, and can also seem foreign in the absence of experience. It can be influenced by external noise, but it can be rebuilt when broken. The holidays are an especially challenging time of year to work on building bodily trust, especially as we enter into the new year. We are frequently faced with messaging that suggests the exact opposite - that our bodies are not worthy of trust. We are told we cannot trust our bodies. This is diet culture, and it's important and helpful to call it out when you see it. Plus, what does the belief we cannot trust our bodies lead to? Fear. Fear of being unwell, stigma, not fitting in, pain, discomfort, feeling out of control. It's entirely understandable to have these fears, and it can be powerful to acknowledge them with self-compassion. And if this idea of trusting your body feels scary, off-putting or foreign, maybe it's helpful to explore why. As we are going to be bombarded with suggestions to 'fix' or 'change' your body in the next few weeks, I encourage you to remember this: you don't have to buy into it. You can take care of your body without trying to change it. You can honor your health and your values without buying into diet culture. Your body is wise and it is on your side. Stop fighting it and ignoring it's desperate attempts at communication - stop criticizing it. How can you start listening, noticing, honoring? How will you remind yourself to trust your body?