It is ironic that my family are the people who see me the most often, yet they fight the biggest struggle accepting my fit body after losing weight.
I believe I’ve made progress in accepting my new fit body after significantly losing weight. It was a big realization moment when a friend of mine spoke to me about her struggling to accept my new fit body. It was that moment that I’ve realized that I am not the only one struggling to accept my fit body: people around me, friends, family, also fight their own struggles with accepting my new found fit body!
Never have I had an encounter with my overweight father and mother where they wouldn’t bring up in a casual conversation their worries about me losing weight and having a fit body – or as they refer to it now SKIN AND BONES.
How family sees Your new fit body after losing weight
At the beginning of my journey to losing weight right when the results of the healthy diet and regular exercises started to show, every time I visited my mother, she would ask me if I eat at all. This continued even after I’ve explained to her that I am overweight and I am working out to lose weight to reach the normal weight range on the BMI (Body Mass Index) scale for my height. Every time we’ve met, I had to explain again and again that I am eating, but choosing to eat healthy foods, exercising 3-5 times per week, so she is seeing the results of my healthy lifestyle changing my body. But she could not and still cannot accept that being fit and not overweight is healthy. I believe that this is partly due to the fact that I have been either obese or overweight the most part of my life, and seeing me in a healthy weight range is new, unconventional for my mother. The other explanation that is more deeper seeded reason for my family being unable to accept my new fit body image stems from their outdated views of a healthy body: they were raised in a world where poor people were skinny because they couldn’t afford enough food for themselves and their families. Being overweight meant being well-fed, and wealthier than the average. So my parents don’t see that with consumerism and the wide acceptance and availability of processed foods the standards have shifted. And being obese comes from consuming unhealthy and available processed foods whereas being fit (or as they know it “skinny”) means that you pay attention to what you are eating and can afford the more expensive but healthier foods.
I have tried to explain this to my family many times – but their views of the world are so deep seated that they can’t accept the fact that:
Being fit/skinny does not equal being unhealthy/poor.[Tweet this!]
How to deal with family members who can’t accept Your body after losing weight
One of my cousins have also had a hard time accepting my new fit body. After I opened up to her about my body image issues after losing weight she admitted that she also had issues accepting the new me(!) and my new found fit body! She truly believed that me with a fit body wasn’t being myself and that there were times when she secretly wished I’d become fat again! But when I accepted myself and my new found fit body, she accepted it too! She was thinking that finally her old friend is back!
Not being in tune with your body and mind is noticeable by other around you. Maybe they can’t put their finger on it, just like you couldn’t, but they sense the disruption in your “force”.
Your best bet when dealing with family members who can’t accept your new fit body after losing weight is to talk openly to them about the body acceptance issues you are facing. This will make them realize that they are also struggling with accepting your new fit body. Who knows, you could even find out interesting new things about your family members that you weren’t aware before, if you start talking openly and listening to what they are saying.
You feel like you are still struggling with accepting your new found fit body? Find help clicking here >>>