This Body Kindness podcast from Rebecca Scritchfield is a MUST listen to! This week she interviewed Connie Sobczak, author of Embody: Learning to Love Your Unique Body (and quiet that critical voice!) and Co-Founder & Executive Director of The Body Positive.
I was on the elliptical machine while I was listening to this podcast and HAD to stop and take notes. Talking about body bashers like myself Connie says,
“Body hatred stops them and blocks them from living in their full power. Even if they’re doing good work, they are still so distracted… I feel like there is this noise. It’s like waving your hands in front of your face and imagining trying to do what you’re doing in the world with all of this noise between you and the action that you’re taking.”
Umm.. YES! That noise! Yes! I have that! For me the noise is usually something like this… I want to eat the bread, but I shouldn’t. Bread is a bad food. Bread makes me fat. But it sounds good. I could just not eat carbs at dinner. No I shouldn’t. But I really want to. But I really want to get skinny. I really don’t want to be fat. But that break looks really good… I think you get the picture. It’s also the body bashing noise that goes something like this… I hate my tummy. My pants are fitting tight today. I’m gaining weight. I’m so fat. I look so gross. I can’t believe I look like this…
And when those thoughts are bouncing around in my head, it takes me away from whatever I’m supposed to be doing. It takes me away from interacting with a girl friend at brunch. It distracts me from fully paying attention to a conversation with a teacher at work. It draws me away from intimacy with my husband. Imagine life without that noise. Imagine how much more present I would be. Imagine how much more authentic I would be with others. Imagine how much more confident and comfortable I would feel in my own body. That’s the freedom I’m fighting for. That’s the reason I’m on this journey.
The other AWESOME part of this podcast are Connie’s thoughts around grief. She says,
“There is a point you have to grieve. You have to give up the idea that ‘If I work hard enough’ and ‘if I’m good enough’ then I will lose the weight… Letting go of that mindset takes grieving.” This is something I’m walking through right now. If I’m honest, I still have thoughts about hoping intuitive eating will lead to weight loss for me. And this is a reminder that I need to work on grieving that. I also appreciate that Connie reminds us that grief is a process. You don’t grieve once and then it never comes up again. It’s a process. Progress, not perfection.
Your Journey
Listen to the Podcast. Do you identify with the “noise” Connie and Rebecca describe? What does the noise sound like to you? Comment below.
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