Viewing Weight Changes Through a Lens of Self-Compassion

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Today I want to chat about a, I wouldn't call it a technique, but a suggestion for when you're tempted to judge your current body weight.

So I will be completely honest, my body weight right now is a few pounds over what I'm generally comfortable with. And I have to stop myself. Because I do care about my body weight, right? Like I would love to not care at all what that number on the scale says or how my clothes fit and just buy a new pair of jeans. But it does kind of get to you mentally sometimes. And we're all human. I'm okay to admit that my body weight fluctuates and so does my judgment of myself sometimes.

But I recently had this realization. I was lying in bed and I'm like, why is this bothering me so much? Like, am I healthy? Yes, I'm very healthy my body weight is a healthy weight. The foods I'm eating are generally healthy. My overall health is good. I am enjoying the foods that I love to enjoy. I'm trying new restaurants, I'm able to move my body in ways that feel really good. I still do fit into clothes that I love. Like these extra few pounds do not affect my life in any way. In fact they're allowing me to follow my values in ways that I may not be able to do if I were trying to be a few pounds lighter at this point in my life.

So basically what I'm saying is… Let's say your friends come into town, you're visiting family, you have a vacation on the books and over the last couple of months, you've put on a couple of pounds. If those couple of pounds are not harming your health, they're not prohibiting you from doing the things you love, and in fact they're probably a result of being able to do all the things that you love and enjoy, then try to look at your body weight through that lens instead of this harsh, critical lens that we tend to jump right to.

And instead of viewing those extra few pounds as a symbol of us being lazy or not having any willpower or whatever else comes with that, that judgment of ourselves, view it through a new lens and be like, Wow look at me! These extra three pounds are showing me how much I've been able to enjoy my life the last month, all the restaurants I was able to try, all of the cozy Sunday mornings I was able to spend in bed instead of doing my typical workout. Whatever it is for you.

Or maybe it's really just like, Wow, I've been really stressed and I am grateful that my body has been able to get me through this last month. I know I've used some unhealthier coping mechanisms and I promise to choose some healthier coping mechanisms moving forward, but I'm just going to give my body some grace and give myself some grace and this is what I needed right now.

So take what you need from this. I know that bodyweight is a touchy subject and it comes with a lot of emotion for a lot of us. But if we can just view that number on the scale in a little bit of a different way and through a different lens it can be really, really really helpful. And it just minimizes the impact it has on our emotional wellbeing and our mental wellbeing.

It's just a few pounds. They will come off when they're ready to come off. In all honesty, I feel like that's my experience in the past. My weight fluctuates a few pounds up and down throughout the year. And it just is what it is. It's like I said, it's a symbol of what my life has looked like in the past few months, for better or for worse, and it will get back to where it needs to be eventually.

As long as it's not harming my health or preventing me from doing the things I love I'm okay with it. And I hope that you can take this mindset with you too. It's been really really helpful for me. And I hope it also helps you.