Your Body Is Not the Problem: A Journey From Yo-Yo Dieting to Intuitive Living

I recorded this one on the treadmill, baby down for a nap, older boys at a friend's house, backpack loaded with about 18 pounds of weights on my back. Day five of rocking it. And I wanted to talk about something that has been a long time in the making for me.

My relationship with my body.

It is not a perfect story. It is not a before and after. It is an ongoing, evolving, sometimes hard and sometimes really beautiful process of learning to love myself exactly as I am while still working toward the life I want to live. And I think a lot of you might be somewhere in this story too.

✨Listen to the full episode or read for the breakdown.

Where It Started

It started at 14, in middle school, with my first diet. Low carb, early 2000s style. Six cucumber slices and half a peanut butter sandwich every day for lunch. I got down to a size two or four that year and had no idea at the time what that would set in motion.

I held the school record for sit-ups per minute. I beat every boy and every girl in the building.

My little brother came in seven years later and broke it.

But from there it was years of yo-yo dieting, always chasing a smaller size, always feeling like the next version of me was just one more diet away. I got married, gained some weight, started another diet. On and off and on and off for over a decade. Always feeling like I had to shrink in order to be something, receive something, become something worthy.

That was exhausting.

Finding Intuitive Eating

A few years ago, post second baby, I stumbled onto intuitive eating. I do not even remember exactly how it found me, but I am so grateful it did. The concept was simple and revolutionary at the same time.

Listen to your body. Trust it. Honor what it tells you.

It meant learning the difference between head hunger and stomach hunger. It meant paying attention to how food actually made me feel instead of just whether it fit a plan. It meant being willing to eat what I wanted and trusting that my body knew what it needed. I gained about ten pounds in the process and made peace with that. And in the three years since, I have not gained any more.

Because when you stop fighting your body, it stops fighting you back.

"When you stop fighting your body, it stops fighting you back."

What I Actually Want My Body to Do

"Clothes are meant to fit you. You are not meant to fit them. The number is just helpful information. It is not a demon sent to judge you."

The shift that changed everything was getting really clear on what I actually wanted my body to be able to do, not what size I wanted it to be.

Hiking. Kayaking. Swimming. Skiing and snowboarding. Running around with my kids. Walking a theme park from open to close. Going down water slides. Traveling. Living.

That is the goal. Not a pant size.

Once I got honest about that, my motivation completely changed. I stopped caring about fitting into a size eight and started caring about building endurance and strength. I bought cute clothes for my size twelve body. I stopped letting a number on a tag tell me anything about my worth. Clothes are meant to fit you. You are not meant to fit them.

Making It Easy and Making It Fun

Movement looks completely different for me now depending on the season of life I am in. I have tried early mornings, late nights, gyms with childcare, working out while kids sleeping, bringing them along. Right now it is treadmill walks during nap time with a weighted backpack because that is what works in this season.

Some days it is a full hike. Some days it is stretching on the floor. Some days it is just walking the dog.

My two rules are simple. Make it as easy as possible and make it as fun as possible. Because something is always better than nothing. And when you let yourself do what you actually want to do instead of what everyone else says you should be doing, something shifts. You stop dreading it. You start showing up for it.

That is the middle ground. Taking in all the information and then going inward and asking what you actually want.

"My body is not working against me. It is trying so hard to take care of me. And the question worth sitting with is how am I supporting it back?"

Your Body Is on Your Side

One of the most beautiful things I have come to believe is that my body is not working against me.

It is trying so hard to take care of me.

I heard a coach say to a woman grieving a miscarriage that her body wanted her to have that baby and was trying with everything it had to make it happen. And I just wept. Because it is true. Our bodies do not want to let us down. They want to carry us through this life and help us live the way we dream of living. They are subject to things they cannot control, but so much of how we support them is within our hands.

What are you feeding it? What are you feeding your eyes and your ears? What are you putting in? Because as much as your body is trying to support you, the question worth sitting with is,

how are you supporting it back?

I believe in you 🤟🏼

Brynne

Thanks for Being Here

Hi, I’m Brynne. I share my journey of becoming through stories and reflection - guided by a higher power as I explore identity, faith, and everyday life, inviting you to grow alongside me.

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