Bravespace Nutrition

Your journey towards healing and recovery (from diet culture and from eating disorders) will be one filled with discovery, clarity, beauty, connection and joy. And, it will also really suck sometimes. ⁣⁣

Shame and pain don’t just go away. It takes time and lots of support to wrestle with the impact that they both have had and learn how to resist, unlearn, and relearn new skills, ways to cope, ways to connect, and shame and pain tolerance. ⁣⁣

You must fight with the pain and shame, even when it feels hard (I am all for breaks though...and naps and hugs and lots of crying). I promise it gets better and I know sometimes it feels like it’s never going to. If you are in that spot right now, know that I see you, you matter and I am giving you a big virtual hug. ⁣⁣

You have strength beyond what you could have ever imagined. You are doing the work. You are not alone. ⁣
⁣

Fullness is not simply just about feeling satiated. Truly allowing yourself to feel full means believing that you deserve food, pleasure and gratification. Feeling full means that both your hunger(physical) and your appetite(preference) are met. And of course, this will not happen all the time at every meal! But, it’s worth considering when you make a meal or eat a snack. Do you find that you feel physically full, but still want more? Maybe you find yourself standing in front of the fridge searching for something but unsure what it is you are searching for? Or maybe you find yourself being afraid of the pleasures of food or the gratification that comes from having a full belly? If you said yes to any of these questions, you are not alone!

This is why what sounds easy on paper (feel your fullness) is much more complex as you get to understand it and your body better. There are complex layers that make up the working definition of fullness, both as it relates to food and to your quality of life (some might even say your soul’s desires.

So I encourage you to consider asking yourself more the next time fearing fullness comes up. Do you believe your deserve to feel pleasure? What about gratification? What does fullness mean in your body and in your life? What does it represent?"

Feeling your fullness is hard. ⁣

After years of being told that being full is wrong, giving yourself full permission to feel full is tricky. When you’re feeling full, or uncomfortably full, everything in your brain and body and nervous system is telling you that it’s wrong and it’s not safe.⁣

And so as you practice giving yourself permission to eat, to eat consistently, to eat enough, and to have foods that you have denied yourself of for a long time, you are going to experience discomfort around fullness. And unfortunately knowing that you’re going to feel not so good and normalizing the experience doesn’t necessarily make you feel better. I know, it’s a bummer. ⁣

So, I want to remind you how brave it is for you to sit with your fullness. I know that this culture and maybe the people around you don’t see allowing yourself to feel full as an act of bravery, but I do. ⁣

Maybe give some of the ideas a good for when that discomfort comes up. Experiment with them, see what it feels like to care for yourself and to be kind and compassionate even when it feels hard and to recruit a friend or partner if that feels helpful.

I see you over there, choosing to allow yourself to eat carbs after years of forcing yourself to only eat protein and veggies.⁣⁣⁣⁣

While you may still experience fear at times (totally normal), you are doing the work. And by work I mean the actions that you are taking to create a greater sense of peace with food, ease the anxiety around food and work toward recovery. ⁣

On the surface, or to an outsider, it may not look like much. In fact, they may judge you through their own lens of dieting and disordered eating. But please know that you choosing to have carbs at breakfast is a BIG win, especially the kinds of carbs that our culture instills the most fear around.

I am proud of you. 💗⁣