A lot of Anna’s worth was dictated by how she looked and after having recovered from an eating disorder, she felt that making peace with her body was the final piece of the puzzle that help her heal.
She was “isolating and wasn’t living because she was so insecure” and it was having a huge impact on her life.
Since working together, Anna has connected with her values and is doing so many badass things—like improv, joining a band and seeing friends she hasn’t seen in years.
Today she says, “There is so much more neutrality and acceptance. Neutrality is freedom! There is so much more strength and acceptance in who I am.”
Conceptually, Kayla got the idea of being body neutral, but she wasn’t internalizing it – she could look at someone else and appreciate their body, but not her own. She had been looking for a new job and “was letting her body anxiety get in the way of expressing who she was in interviews.”
Since doing this work, Kayla has worn a bikini for the first time since she was a kid, shared pictures of herself in said bikini online and she applied for a job promotion in a new company and got it!
She says, “I learned in this program how to let myself shine. I feel a lot more confident in myself. I don’t allow the issues I have with my body to negate everything else I have to offer.”
She says that she has more neutral days, doesn’t get into periods of negative body image like she used to and is able to move on from them more easily. “It’s very freeing!”
Maru grew up in an extremely misogynistic culture and, “her main fears and frustrations had to do with whether or not she was attractive to men.” She felt a lot of inferiority because of her body size due to the fatphobic culture she grew up in.
She felt like she would never be a successful person with a happy life because of her body. Today, by not having dieting and fixation on her body as a coping mechanism anymore, she has a lot more clarity on what she wants for her future.
“I believe diet culture keeps us distracted by bullshit that is not important and it takes us away from fighting for things that are important. I’m happy that I can worry about things that are truly important now.”
She’s learned to be stop trying to be perfect by being compassionate towards herself and “has stopped being so hard on herself.”
“I feel very liberated and very relieved and am happy to know that there is no going back.”
Christine’s relationship with her body had been up and down over her lifetime. She had given up dieting, but her relationship with her body was “still not in a happy place” and she was “so sick of being preoccupied with her body and letting it leach into every aspect of her life.”
She has been able to go through things “with a new attitude and perspective” that has helped her to “transform the way she sees bodies, and see her own body with more grace.”
Christine keeps it real – she still has ups and downs and “may not be exactly where she wants to be, but she’s happy with where she is now….and knowing that she’s not going to go back into that space.”
Most importantly, she has gone through some tough times in life without turning to those old coping mechanisms.
Hear Christine’s Spotlight in the podcast series.
