Fear of Gaining Weight
Do you feel like you are constantly walking on eggshells, afraid of gaining weight? Afraid to indulge even a little bit, for fear you'll spiral? Do you feel guilt when you do give in and "treat" yourself, or have a "cheat" meal?
Why are we afraid of gaining weight? Where does the fear come from?
This is a really important topic to me - as someone who is always teaching my clients to connect with why they want to achieve things, if they are constantly making goals out of fear, there is no clear connection to what they actually do want. And it's much easier to achieve goals when you know what they are.
So, why? Where does the fear come from?
What are 3 causes of fear of gaining weight for women?
😕 Social Media and TV Projections of "what beauty is" - the beauty industry is obsessed with youth, and the "ideal body" is constantly changing - how are we supposed to keep up? The idea body usually refers to shape of the body, and not health. Therefore, we are constantly trying to shift and change our bodies as opposed to embracing them and keeping them happy and healthy. The way this industry is designed is to keep us in a constant state of fear and unworthiness.
🙁 Family Influences & up bringing - Many cultures put pressure on looking too thin, looking too big, not eating enough, and depending on how your family was for that can really affect your relationship with nutrition and food. If you are trying to eat healthy, and a family member calls you out - "You haven't eaten enough food! What, are you on a diet!" or "Wow, you look like you gained weight!" Constantly hearing things like this can be really psychologically damaging after many years. It affects the way we do everything, the way we judge ourselves and others. If you come from a family that both parents worked so hard and ordered food mostly, you might have conversations around how difficult and time consuming it is to cook. Even details about your up-bringing that might seem the smallest can have tremendous effects on how you eat today.
🙁 Environment (Friends) - Consider the insecurities and conversations you, yourself, have with body image based on the two examples above. Now imagine everyone has those, and throw all those people in a room. Is your friend constantly talking about how much weight they were able to lose? Is another constantly tugging at her shirt, trying to cover herself up more and more? Is there another friend who doesn't seem to care about any of it, and man, do you envy her? Our surroundings influence our thoughts and actions. Maybe you care about your health when you're alone, but it goes out the window with friends.
If you have been struggling with a fear of gaining weight and don’t know why or why it keeps coming back, dive in deeper and make sure you check the video out.