Your body is worthy

A few years ago my doctor told me, “You know, I would not come see you as a nutritionist knowing that you can’t control your weight.” She then doled out the usual diet advice: eat less, exercise more.

I’ve always been on the taller, slimmer side, but during that time I had an undiagnosed autoimmune issue. For about four years, I fluctuated between 10 and 30 pounds heavier than I usually am. It wasn’t because of my lifestyle, and I actually liked my slightly curvier body.

But for about seven years after that doctor appointment, I couldn’t bring myself to own a full-length mirror. Her comment made me feel ashamed to look at myself, and it made me question my legitimacy as a nutritionist.

Nowadays, my autoimmune issue is well managed, and most of the extra weight is gone. When I look at photos of myself from back then, I notice that while my body looks different, I was still me. I like the way I look with or without those curves. Looking back now, I see how diet culture robbed me of seven years that I could have spent loving my body and feeling worthy in my business.

I share my story because it’s everyone’s story. Countless people receive harmful comments about their weight, often followed by impossibly strict diet and exercise advice. All in the name of getting smaller.

To that narrative, I say no thank you. I believe firmly that you can be healthy at any size. People sometimes ask, “Haleh, how can you say that someone with a higher weight is healthier than someone with a lower weight?” Truthfully, I have seen it happen.

Sure, higher weight can sometimes lead to complications. But who are we to decide what weight someone else should be? Our weight is not what defines our worth or our health.

I encourage you to set health goals that add to your life, rather than take away from it. Rather than resolving to get skinny by eating less, set a goal to incorporate more colorful produce into your usual meals, to get strong by moving your body and eating enough to support your muscles, or to have more energy in your day by getting to bed earlier at night.

Humans crave abundance. We don’t do well with the restrictions required by most diets. What if we instead focus on all the wonderful, supportive things we can add to our day? What if we told our bodies all the things we love about them? Or thanked our bodies for making it possible to do our favorite things?

If you’re ready to learn how to love, accept, and take care of your body, I would love to help you. We’ll set healthy, supportive goals for your body, and I will support you along the journey. You may find that in the process, your weight goes down, or it may not.

What will happen is this: You’ll learn to work with your body rather than against it, and hopefully discover that your body is worthy of love and self-acceptance.

If you’re ready to leave diets behind, let’s talk.