The Problem With Getting Your “Body Back”.

Weight loss won’t heal identity loss.

I am sure you have heard the concept about getting your “body back” after pregnancy.

😤As an eating disorder therapist, this concept - which is rooted in societal expectations of what our bodies ‘should’ look like - is infuriating.

At the same time, as a therapist who also specializes in perinatal mental health, I have seen a different perspective of this idea of getting your “body back”.

What I have noticed over the years of working with postpartum people, as well as having personally gone through the transformational process of becoming a parent, is the unexpected loss of *identity* when becoming a parent.

🤯The loss of identity was something I didn’t see coming. I felt like I didn’t know who I was anymore. While I felt so much love and joy with my baby, I also was grieving the loss of who I was.

I have seen this in countless people I have worked with as they have navigated the postpartum phase. If any of this is resonating with you, you are not alone.

➡️ I have also seen how the concept of getting your “body back” after pregnancy becomes synonymous with getting *you* back.

➡️ I have seen people diet and exercise, working towards their pre-pregnancy weight, hoping they will find *themselves* when they reach that number.

➡️ What people find, all too often, is reaching that number is not the fix to how they are feeling.

I am sure you can guess why.

1️⃣ because it is *never* about the number on the scale. It is *always* something deeper.

And 2️⃣, because you aren’t the same person anymore.

✨You have gone through the labyrinth of pregnancy and birth, coming out into the maze of parenthood completely anew.

Which can feel so exciting, and scary.

❤️‍🩹 Focusing on weight may feel like a nice distraction, but it won’t be the answer to what you are searching for - which, most likely, is *yourself*.

You do not have to do this healing on your own. Please connect with a therapist (who specializes in working with perinatal mental health and/or eating disorders) to support you on your parenthood journey.

And click here to check out my upcoming course, Finding Peace With Food and Body (During Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Beyond)!