GLP1's and Intuitive Eating
With the rise in use of GLP1’s, we are hearing more and more conversations (and judgments) about their role in weight loss and seeing more and more people whose bodies are changing. At times there is a real lack of nuance in the discussion. While it can sometimes come from a well-intentioned place, it’s still hurtful to those who are trying their best to make a decision that feels best for them at this moment in time.
If you are considering using a GLP1 to pursue weight loss but are also trying to practice Intuitive Eating, please know that you are good, you are worthy, and no matter what you choose you can continue to work on healing your relationship with food and your body. It may look different with a GLP1, but it is still available to you. In this world of anti fatness, you are damned if you do, damned if you don’t, so you just decide what feels best for you.
If you’ve decided that you are not going to use a GLP1 to pursue weight loss, please know you are good, you are worthy, and you can continue to heal your relationship with food and your body even in this period of upheaval. I know how hard it is to see people personally and in our culture at large whose formally fat bodies are changing. In a culture that values thin bodies, it is feeling lonelier for those who are choosing to not pursue weight loss. It is so hard. And, you are not alone.
If you are currently on a GLP1 for weight loss and struggling with feeling torn between gratitude for your smaller body and/or a reduction in ‘food noise’ and feeling shame for utilizing a GLP1, please know that you are good, you are worthy, and you can continue to explore healing in your relationship to food and your body. You are choosing what feels right for you in this moment, trusting yourself amongst all the noise, and you can continue to assess what that means for you at any given time.
If you are currently on a GLP1 for management of your Diabetes or other Chronic Health condition and feeling conflicted about benefiting from the health benefit(s) but also enjoying the side effect of weight loss, please know you are good, you are worthy, and you can continue to heal your relationship with food and your body. It can be challenging to have come to a place of body respect and neutrality and then have to navigate losing weight as an unintended consequence of a needed medication. It can also be challenging to have not yet come to a place of body neutrality, lose weight on the GLP1, and then feel like you shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy any new ease in body you may experience.
If you are not considering a GLP1 for weight loss but find yourself struggling with judgments and internalized anti fat bias, please know that you are good, you are worthy, and you can continue to challenge your messy first thoughts (the things you’ve been taught/observed). You can continue your own work of healing your relationship to food and with your body while continuing to find ways to challenge any biases that may be contributing to harsh thoughts around others’ use of GLP1’s for weight loss.
This is messy, it just is. But we can show up with kindness for ourselves and others knowing that we’re all doing our best. You can use compassion to offer yourself and those around you grace in these wild times we’re in.