Fear of Weight Gain
Recently I asked a friend what questions she had about Intuitive Eating that she wanted me to answer. Immediately, she said “But what about my weight? I want to lose weight, not gain it.”
If your fear of weight gain is holding you back from diving into Intuitive Eating, you are not alone! Having this fear along with the fear of letting go of food/diet rules is totally normal. For many of us, the desire to lose weight is normal in our fat phobic culture. Many of us have spent years, maybe even decades trying to manipulate or change our bodies. Diet culture views us as “worthy” if we are in a smaller body.
So, let’s unpack where these fears come from.
For many, dieting makes us feel like we are in control. Are we actually? We feel that we truly have control over our weight, when in reality there are so many different aspects that play into our weight. Dieting is illusive. If you did lose weight, however, what was the cost? Did you feel restricted? Were family dinners or social events avoided during that time? Did you have guilt, fear or shame for eating certain foods? Reflect on your answers; were you really in control?
Another place that drives our fear of weight gain could be fatphobia. Also referred to as weight stigma, fatphobia “describes the attitudes and stereotypes surrounding and attached to larger bodies.” Fatphobia is a fear of becoming fat or being around larger bodied people. As stated above, our culture and society values thinness and unfortunately, people are treated differently because of their size.
Examples include:
Being denied medical procedures because of weight
Being denied a scholarship because of weight
Chairs at restaurants, doctors offices, movie theaters, etc are size specific
Airplanes charge extra for an accommodating seat
Our society does not make it easy for larger bodied humans. Oftentimes, we view fat people as lazy or failures. This perpetuates our value and worth as “thinner” people and really engrains in us a fear of weight gain. Some may not even be aware of their own internalized weight stigma. Internalized weight stigma, which is defined as “the belief that negative stereotypes about weight apply to ourselves.”
At the end of the day, we all just want to be accepted and want to feel that we belong. This is what the Health At Every Size (HAES) movement is all about.
I’m sure this all sounds impossible, but it is not! Personal experiences and diet culture can make it extremely difficult for you to let go of the fear of weight gain. It is hard to do, but as I said, it is not impossible. We have to dig into the WHY you fear weight gain. Once you do, you will find a liberation you didn’t know was possible. To start that investigation into WHY, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Why do I value thinness?
What are my beliefs on people in larger bodies?
Why do I put worth in my pant size?
Where did my fear of weight gain come from?
Letting go of the fear of weight gain is normal, but it does not have to be your forever reality. Working on shifting your mindset is what Intuitive Eating is all about. It’s not an easy path, but I’ll be there to hold your hand along the way.
Ready to take that leap of faith and dig deeper into body image and your relationship with food? I am now accepting new clients! Click here to fill out the intake form and to setup a free discovery call!