Finding a positive and healthy image of our body is not easy, especially when we don’t feel we are at our best. But we must remember that fat or thin are not feelings, but body types. We may feel not attractive or not sexy, sad, frustrated, or rejected. But we cannot “feel” fat or thin.
When we say “I feel fat” or “I feel thin” in fact we replace one of those emotions with our body. Implying that necessarily having a different body means being not attractive or sexy, sad, frustrated or rejected.
What (really) means when we say we feel fat or thin
What we do is to replace all those feelings, that are external to us and that depend on being excluded and mocked by others, with an unpleasant feeling that comes from within and that we throw towards our body. So we must not confuse the experiences that belong to real life with our feelings.
Next time you think you are “feeling” fat or thin, you might be think what this really mean. Find in yourself the emotion you feel and give voice to that. Our feelings need to be heard. And the experiences that people with different bodies live in real life shouldn’t be minimized with feelings about themselves.
Find out what you need
Through a wider vocabulary, it will be much easier to deal with our feelings and feelings. And by identifying them we can understand what we really need. And start a journey to understand how to get it.
Sometimes they are simple things like sleeping more, a hug or a good cry. We need to start with simpler things. If we are not able to deal with the small things how can we handle the bigger ones?
All this will not make us less fat or less thin, but simply sheltered.
