Whenever you feel insecure about your weight, remember this: underneath almost every weight-based insecurity is another deeper and truer insecurity about life.
For example:
I wish I could lose 10 pounds before my college reunion.
The truer and deeper feeling might be: I want to be respected, admired, and liked by my former classmates and I think they might respect a thin person more.
I wish my dress were looser for this wedding or party.
The truer and deeper feeling might be: I worry that my relationship status/career/appearance/self is not “good enough.”
Or: I worry that my brother/aunt/friend/random acquaintance is “better" than me.
Maybe I should lose weight before my doctor’s visit.
The truer and deeper feeling might be: I worry that a person who I respect will judge me and tell me that I am unhealthy and irresponsible.
Do you see a pattern? When we feel like our weight is not good enough, we are usually worried that we are not good enough.
Even if we claim that our concerns are about “health," it’s never just about that; we can be healthier without losing a pound.
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If we assume that feeling insecure about our weight is actually about our weight, we never get to address these extremely important, core issues.
So the next time you feel insecure about your weight, try going a bit deeper.
Ask yourself: what is the deeper and truer feeling, underneath my insecurity about my weight?