The Beauty of Body Liberation in Aging
In my last post, I got into some reasons why growing older may increase your vulnerability to Diet/Wellness Culture mess. This continues that conversation and focuses on the benefits and beauty of body liberation, especially at this time of our lives.
This is particularly important if you mended your relationship with your body, eating, and exercise earlier in your life. Now, aging is pulling you back into that struggle.
Previously, I discussed why we feel we gain social currency if our older bodies are thin and fit/able (or we are working toward that).
For many of you, health anxieties also contribute to you falling back into diet and wellness mentality.
Please hear me-you are the expert on your body, and I respect and affirm that. I trust that you know what is best for you.
If you have a health concern or medical diagnosis impacted by your eating, this does not mean you cannot pursue body liberation. Being anti-diet/wellness doesn't mean you have to eat all foods. It means you get to make choices about how you nourish and care for your body that is rooted in your attunement with your body, not diet/wellness culture rules. Discovering this sweet spot is a game-changer!
My mission is to encourage choices that support your well-being as you grow older while cultivating a pro-aging, body-liberation attitude!
Why I am Anti-Diet/Wellness Culture
Diet/Wellness Rules:
set up a way of seeing food, eating, and activity through a binary, black-and-white, all-or-nothing lens
are rigid and unsustainable
contribute to guilt and shame
fracture your connection to your body and your body's wisdom
disempower you as the expert on your body
do not invite you to become curious about yourself
increase your risk of obsessive and disordered thoughts and behaviors
The benefit of a body liberation attitude toward caring for yourself as you age is that it protects you from the potential damages of Diet/Wellness Rules while encouraging you to care for yourself. This process is rooted in the following:
attunement to your own body and the information available there
empowerment to know that you are the expert on your body
flexibility and is therefore sustainable
compassionate curiosity about yourself and your experiences
encourages you to develop a kinder relationship with yourself
supports your whole-person health
As you age, the beauty of body liberation is that you cultivate a more intimate relationship with yourself and your experience when you no longer focus on your weight and the diet/wellness rules.
I am fortunate to witness this mending and liberation in my courageous clients and group participants. I love this process and the women, just like you, who are willing to make their way toward their own body liberation.
