A few weeks ago, Beloved Body launched “A New Vocabulary” (ANV) – a series of blog posts designed to give you self-compassionate language for a variety of body image topics. The posts aggregate content from others on Instagram about a particular topic in one place. The next time you want to be kind to yourself but don’t know quite what to say, you can easily find new vocabulary right here.
The first post reminds us “Your Body is Allowed to Change,” and I’m excited to introduce ANV’s second topic: “I Am Not the Source of My Struggle.”
For the longest time, I thought my problem was me. I wanted to lose weight or look a certain way, so I did things to try to achieve that. But those things didn’t actually make me happy. But yet, I couldn’t erase my body desires (but felt bad about having those desires), which led back to those actions again. And then some of those actions – like dieting or being “good” and not ordering what I really wanted at a restaurant – created disordered eating that I thought was a lack of willpower or discipline (again my problem … when in actuality it’s your body’s natural & NORMAL response to restriction). My whole self was in conflict with itself. I would think, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?”
Have you ever felt this way? If so, I and the authors of the posts below are here to tell you the answer is NOTHING! You did not create this beast called diet-culture. You did not create this unrealistic body ideal that changes with the drop of a hat. You did not create a $72 billion diet industry that profits off your confusion, doubt and pain. You are not the source of your struggle. Try saying this out loud right now, “I am not the source of my struggle.”
The struggle is real, but it’s not your fault. Need more evidence? Read these nuggets of gold below.
Beloved Body 
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