The Conflicts Of A Foodie and Her Body Image

Posted in Lifestyle

I love good food. I love the way brings people together. I enjoy the taste of each mouthful, that is, until I am reminded that I am eating too much. Wait what? Just because I eating normally and enjoying it?

Maybe I should just stop….

Maybe it’s our society constantly reminding us to watch our weight. Hence, as a young child, I would be watching my calories and exercising. I felt like a whale amongst elegant swans in my ballet performances.

Then puberty hit.

It was hell….

I looked at my elders around me… Most were rounder and plumper. I was mortified.

When I looked at some of my thin friends, I was jealous. I stopped eating lunch and just ate a small container of jello from the cafeteria. An apple was my after-school snack. The scale and measuring tape was my life. Working out for hours was my past time.

I felt in control. But, I wasn’t happy.

Adulthood was the same. However, becoming a nutritionist helped me to relax and enjoy a happy balance, for a while.

After having two children, I learned that weight wasn’t everything. I understood that I needed nourishment to take care of my babies. Continuing to maintain my health was my priority, not my weight.

But, I was anxious. Secretly, I hated myself. I wasn’t as thin as I was before giving birth. Others jokingly reminded that I was thin in the photos didn’t help.

I could see that, I didn’t need another reminder! Luckily, I would force myself to put on a brave face and continued my day.

Till this day, I have a negative body image. Being a foodie, my internal struggle haunts me each time. Therefore, I like to pack my leftovers. I tend try different dishes, then pack it for the next meal. Otherwise, I like to take photos of my friends dish to add to my foodie collection.

Negative Body Image Types And Symptoms (Break Binge Eating)

  • General unhappiness with one’s body as a whole or its specific parts
  • Equating one’s self-worth on the basis of what they look like or weigh
  • Obsessively scrutinizing one’s body in front of a mirror or reflection
  • Repetitive negative thoughts about one’s body that interferes with many life domains 
  • Refusal to look at one’s body due to anxiety
  • Perceiving one’s body to be larger than it really is
  • Extreme anxiety over gaining weight 
  • Making disparaging comments about one’s body and frequent comparison of one’s shape and size to other people
  • Feelings of being trapped in a larger body
Image Courtesy of Break Binge Eating

Contributors of negative body image (Better Health Channel)

Some of the factors that contribute to a negative body image include:

  • being teased about appearance in childhood
  • growing up in a household where emphasis is placed on appearance of a particular ideal body size or shape
  • parents and other family members experiencing body dissatisfaction and engaging in dieting or weight control behaviours
  • a cultural tendency to judge people by their appearance
  • peer pressure among teenage girls and women to be slim, go on diets, exercise and compare themselves with others
  • media and advertising images that promote particular appearance ideals
  • a tendency in women’s media to push fad diets and weight loss programs
  • well-meaning public health campaigns that urge people to lose weight. —- Better Health Channel

I look at this list and can identify with all of them.

Everyday I have to remind myself that I am healthy and that’s what counts! Plus, I am exercise by doing K-pop Zumba workouts because I love it!

If some think that I am overweight and not up to their standards, then it’s too bad for them.

Rant over!

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Published by Chocoviv

29 thoughts on “The Conflicts Of A Foodie and Her Body Image”

  3. I fight that same battle everyday. I just can’t stand looking at how fat I’ve become in just a few short years. I don’t even recognize myself in pictures or in the mirror any more, but I too love good food. I think it is a never-ending struggle with those of us who love and appreciate good food.

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  4. I like this post for many reasons. first, I hate that there is a such thing as body shaming. Second, we need to support people being healthy, my question how is an individual who are clearly over weight healthy? there is nothing wrong with loving who you are and no one should try to fit into what society says is the ideal norm. I struggled for years and still do with loving food, but hating how I allow the food to reshape my body and my health. I am working on eating good food, enjoying some things that are forbidden and adding daily exercise and plenty of rest, water and smiles.

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  5. Yea I’m a foodie myself I just ate a pack of donuts like 2 minutes ago lol I weighed like 194ish last a couple days ago. But in a viewpoint I have about this is the “diet culture “ we have now currently I think it began in the 1690’s or something I looked up a long time ago I’m not sure how it is in Canada but , I feel we do our best with whatever genetics and small steps we take with small things as to if we do to better ourselves. I love eating peanuts and Reece’s peanut butter cups but looking at food is amazing and stuff. And the channeling of this “diet culture “ is kinda bad but I can understand the other side of it too. The Kardashian body type is like all the same to me but I feel as long as you have good LDL and the other type of cholesterol I think you’d be fine I’m not experienced in the nutrition field I’m just an artist but everyone eventually passes so I feel continue eating good stuff lol Love seeing your posts.

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    1. Thank you!!! I absolutely enjoy food and art like yourself! It’s the body shaming that I am completely fed up with. It’s the most tragic when it’s your own family member who themselves aren’t Greek gods themselves say that I am not up to their standards…. it’s absolutely ridiculous!

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  6. Interesting post. I don’t think this has ever been a big issue for me. I was super slim although eating whatever I wanted and in middle age have put on some weight but still healthy without trying too hard. Love food so much. Of course I would rather have a flatter stomach but I honestly don’t care that much!! Being healthy is the only thing that matters really, and enjoying life x

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  7. I love having a good relationship with good food too and sure hope you know that your body is just perfect the way you are! Thanks for sharing this post and our little girls look at their own mom for body positivity (definitely that’s me reminding myself).

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  13. It’s insane that society pushes a single body image at us and expects each individual to match it in order to be “acceptable.” What matters more than what our bodies look like is their state of health. I’ve certainly struggled with my own body image at times, but I’m trying to remember that watching my weight should only count toward monitoring health, not reaching for a goal that doesn’t fit me.

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