Letter to my 22 year-old self
Contains stuff you may not agree with about weight; could be triggering.
Dear me,
You are going to put on a half to two stones* every year for the next ten years. Yes, fat is a feminist issue, but that doesn't mean it has zero health ramifications. When you're in your late twenties you're going to find it difficult to walk half a mile. It is so easy to keep on putting on weight if you're eating more food than you need. Stop using breastfeeding as an excuse to overeat!
If you lost weight, your boyfriend would agree to have more sex with you. He didn't want to tell you this at the time because he didn't want to hurt you, but you know how much you like sex! What a great motivator ;-)
You steal food. Do you think that's a healthy thing? You have enough money, there's no financial need to do it. Ask yourself why you do this, and why you eat in secret sometimes. When you eat a lot of food at once, this is called a binge. This is a very unhealthy thing, both physically and emotionally.
Try to accept the shape of your belly. You've had a baby, it changes things. Do not use the hatred of its shape to stop yourself exercising!
When you're about to get some food, ask yourself why you're doing it. Is it because you are hungry, or is it because you have a feeling that you want to go away? If it is the latter, stop!
Stop using food as a 'treat' so much. It is not a treat to punish your body with excess food. Would you force-feed a child? You know you wouldn't do that, so stop doing it to yourself.
Look at your body, and at your food intake. Ask yourself what healthy things you can do to change it. You *can* change it. Yes, fad diets don't work, but other kinds of eating do if they are the sort that you can maintain for a year.
Love, me
This is something I'd like to be able to say to other people, but... weight and body issues are so fraught.
* One stone = 14 pounds = 6.35 kilos