With Valentine’s Day approaching, this month is all about love. But let’s be honest. Sometimes it’s not all roses and chocolates. Sometimes, the idea of love after weight loss surgery can feel impossible.

Before we learn to accept and receive love from others, we must learn to love ourselves. To accept who we are, who we were, and who we are becoming can be incredibly overwhelming. To learn to love ourselves, as we continue to change and evolve through this journey, can seem near impossible.

How does this relate to eating you ask? It might seem like a strange topic to be covering here, but it’s more connected to self-love than you might think.

When we don’t give ourselves the love and care we deserve, it can often show in other areas of our lives. Particularly in ways of self-sabotaging behavior. This month, I’m going to be giving you some tips and exercises that I use with my 1:1 clients to help you build confidence and to embrace your ever changing body as they continue to create the life you’ve always dreamed of.

Self Love

I know I’m not alone when I say that sometimes it’s difficult to love a body that I have felt disconnected from my whole life. Personally, I’ve held on to a lot of resentment towards my body over the years.

But we only have one body. It is the only place we will ever get to live. And as hard as it might be to show it love and appreciation, and as difficult as it may be to heal a lifetime of hurt and disappointment, learning to love and accept yourself can be so incredibly rewarding.

When it comes to binge eating and emotional eating, many times we engage in both of those as a result of not caring for ourselves in the ways we need to.

If we aren’t taking care of our mental health, aren’t feeling in tune with our body’s hunger and full signals, and aren’t giving ourselves the grace we deserve, it can often lead to emotional eating. And even further on that spectrum comes binge eating. 

By showing yourself love, care, and grace and learning to appreciate and accept your body, we can also start to learn to heal our relationship with food. These things go hand in hand.

Affirmations

One of my favorite ways to practice self-love is through affirmations. Affirmations can feel incredibly uncomfortable at first. That’s okay! The reason they feel uncomfortable is because our brain doesn’t believe them to be true statements. However, the brain is incredible, and the more you tell your brain it’s true, the more it accepts those thoughts! Writing your affirmations down can be an incredible way to practice self-love and self-care. 

Here are some examples of affirmations:

• I am beautiful, strong, and perfectly made.
• My body deserves love and care each day.
• I love my body unconditionally as it is today.
• I love my body without the expectation that it will change.
• I am proud of myself for all my big and small wins.
• I deserve the love I give to other people. 
• I am worthy of love and respect. 
• I am loveable. 
• I am beautiful and perfect just the way I am. 
• The tools I need to be successful and happy are in my possession.

Next Steps

I’d like to challenge you to write a love letter to your body. It’s time to thank your body for all of the good it has done for you in the past. Dig deep here and try to connect to yourself! 

Need more support and guidance on mindset work after WLS? Come join the T.R.I.B.E. Membership program where me and my team guide you through everything you need to know on your WLS journey. We have over 35 live support groups, challenges, accountability, modules, and MORE!