Here’s Your Gift

Thank you for dropping by for your free gift from The Body Confident Women Summit. As you may recall, in my conversation with host Elizabeth Hall, we touched how my own struggles with food became my life’s passion in helping others to restore food and body peace in their lives.

Then we dove into some profound topics such as decoding food and body angst, what it truly means to feel "fat", and tapping into your inherent eating wisdom.

And I introduced my “Theory of Expando Thighs,” which is what your gift is all about!

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The Theory of Expando Thighs

I developed the Theory of Expando Thighs in response to all those fat feelings I encountered (first in myself and later in clients). I kept hearing fat is not a feeling, but it sure feels like a feeling!

Does this sound familiar?

You get up one morning feeling thin. Feeling good. You put on your "thin" clothes. Clothes you would never reach for when you’re having a “fat” day. So you go out, feeling thin. Feeling good. Then, you’re driving down the road, feeling good, and suddenly you realize your thighs are HUGE - you’re feeling fat, feeling unhealthy, bloated, blumpy, etc. Why are you suddenly feeling fat? Did you gain 10 pounds in the last few hours?

“Fat” is not a feeling like a happy, sad, mad or glad

In the book I co-authored, Moving Away from Diets, I introduced my Theory of Expando Thighs (“Decoding Body Preoccupation: If Fat Is Not A Feeling, Then What?”).

“Feeling fat” is actually a defense your mind uses to protect you from what’s going on. If you are like I was, you may feel fat all the time. But if you look for the (perhaps rare) moments of not feeling fat, you have an opening to see how fat feelings arise in response to a fleeting thought or an interaction; or something that provokes anxiety, stress, or worry; or a memory. You begin to see how all of these can be masked as “feeling fat.”

Unpacking those fat / unhealthy / blumpy feelings

The handouts I’m sharing can help you move from “feeling fat” to get to the underlying cause. Then you are better able to react in ways that are compassionate and helpful, rather than spiraling into negative self-talk and perhaps lapsing into ‘got-to-change-my-food’ and weight loss thoughts.

Noticing, Feeling, Acting: Your Path to Body Confidence

Download these two worksheets and keep them on hand at home, in your car, at work. The next time you start “feeling fat,” I hope you’ll remember to take notice and reap the benefits of slowing down and understanding more about the complexity of all the feelings you’re having.

We all deserve to be Body Confident!

We all deserve to feel good in our bodies! It’s my hope that the sessions and the materials the summit provides will help you gain insights and skills that will help you on your own journey.

What’s your relationship to food? Take our free quiz to find out!