Growing up, I had severe body dysmorphia. While I struggled for many years before finally feeling comfortable in my body, it didn’t happen magically overnight. I spent so many years uncomfortable in my skin, stressing about whether or not missing a day at the gym was going to make me gain weight, freaking out if I didn’t follow my diet to a T or count all my calories; but most of all—desperate and heartbroken because the diets my diet coaches had me following at the time absolutely did not work. The diets that seemed to work for everyone else in the world made me retain water and bloat like crazy. Which is why I had to take matters into my own hands.
While I am no nutritional expert and will never claim to be, I think something can be said about the fact that I was the only one who knew what worked for me. My body was pleading with and kept fighting me until I finally listened. I’m a huge proponent of overall health and balance. I believe that it’s important to stay as active and healthy as possible so you can live a full life until your dying days.
Counting calories and stressing over food is not for me. My life is so much fuller now that I’ve gotten over my body dysmorphia, which is why I wanted to share some tips I found along the way. If you’re struggling like I was, I hope you’re able to find some help and comfort in them. We all deserve to life a flawless life full of so much joy and happiness.
Family background
I figured I’d start with the biggest and most important thing that helped me. It starts like this: When I finally gave up and caved to having the bowl of gluten free pasta (I’ve been gluten free for almost 7 years now after getting tested for and finding out that I have celiac), I woke up the next morning and all my water retention was gone. Two thoughts ran through my mind: 1) this is amazing! I can finally have carbs again! And: 2) why do low carb diets work for everyone else but me? Is something wrong with me?
I decided to do some investigating. I already knew from the fitness world that I wasn’t exactly the poster woman for it. I was shaped differently than the girls on the magazines, the ones with the big followings on Instagram. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all either, I think it’s amazing when women can embrace who they are and feel comfortable in their skin. But plain and simple: they were straight, I had curves. Measuring around my bust size without a bra on is 30 inches, my bra size is a 32D, my waist is 26.5 inches, my hips and derrière are 40 inches around, and my thighs taper down to 17 inches. I’m Italian, and put two and two together and began researching the body shape Italian women typically have. Unsurprisingly, I found that they usually have a smaller waist and wider hips. (I have no idea where my bust came from, it’s still TBD). I also found out that it’s common for them to have higher carb diets and respond best to high carbs. I fit the bill in every single slot.
I say all of this because I think it’s incredibly important to know your family background and body type in order to determine what diet is best for you. Taking the time to do that research is invaluable. I wish someone had pointed out my family background to me when I was younger and explained to me that no matter how many celebrity diets Cosmo or Vogue published, regardless of the keto diet that seemingly worked wonders on everyone in the fitness industry; it would never in a million years work for me. America is a huge melting pot but is still so generalized when it comes to embracing different body types and diets. Take the time to learn where you come from and what your build is. You’ll be so happy you did in the long run.
Trial + error
Have you ever seen those memes that joke about going to the gym for one day and expecting to have a six pack appear across your stomach out of thin air? Finding the right diet is kind of like that meme. It can take up to two weeks for your body to adjust to a new style of eating, so whenever you test out new foods it’s important to give it the right amount of time to see if it actually works for you. I know that probably sounds terrifying (it certainly would’ve for me back in the day), but as long as you’re not overeating you will be fine. The human body is amazing. It’s not uncommon for people to try diets out and get off them two weeks or even two months later because they didn’t like the results they were getting to switch over to a new one. It’s annoying and as much as we’d love the instant gratification, the trial and error will only lead to better results in the long run.
Books + YouTube
One of my favorite things to do is learn. I love learning about anything and everything. One of the greatest bonuses to the world we live in today is the infinite amount digital knowledge at our fingertips. If you’re interested in learning more about nutrition or what you should be eating, YouTube it or type search the internet on a book for it! YouTube is great for anyone who enjoys learning audibly or listening to audiobooks. For me personally, I get much more out of reading. I’ll occasionally take notes if I’m really trying to fully understand the topic. I get all of my books from my local library, which is great because if I don’t end up liking the book or find it useless I can just return it and I haven’t wasted my money! Also, libraries are great because you can search by categories and hundreds of books will pop up on that topic. You can never have too much knowledge.
Food is not the enemy
Stop labeling certain foods as “good” food and “bad” food. There is no such thing. Food is just food. If you can look at food as just that, I can promise you that eating healthy will become a whole lot easier. You won’t find yourself stressing over what you eat or tempted to binge on sweets. When I was helping my boyfriend get over a binge eating problem this past summer, I referred back to this a lot and he said it helped him tremendously.
I will leave you, dear reader, with this: if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment with your question or DM me on Instagram. I will help you in any way I can. As always, thank you so much for reading ❥
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!