“I feel fat today” – What’s really going on when we say this.

This morning when I got up I felt fat.

Ever have that?

Those times when you just wake up and “feel fat”?

I got on the scales and weighed myself, you know,  just to see if I was justified in “feeling fat” I was 66.6kg (?). To put this in context,  I was 67.5kg when I weighed in for my online competition at the weekend, so LIGHTER today. 

Armed with that data – because that’s ALL the numbers on a scale are – I realised that something else was going on, mentally. 

Last year I did a webinar with a registered dietician called Rachel Ann Hobbs all about compassionate weight management.  

I dug out my notes this morning so I could shine a light on this because I would bet my house on the fact that most women regularly find themselves in this situation. 

Here’s what I had written.  Firstly,  “fat” is not a feeling.  These thoughts don’t come from a logical part of the brain.  They are a smokescreen for something else. 

 

Armed

Now you’re armed with that info,  ask yourself: “What is really going on here?” 

“What am I really feeling?” 

I put that question to myself and realised a few things.  

I’m quite  bloated at the moment because I am ovulating.  This is something that happens to me every month at this time. 

Our living and dining room has been getting decorated for the last week so, even though my activity levels have been high,  I have had to sacrifice quite a few training sessions to get on top of things.   I know myself well enough to know that missing training has a very negative effect on my mindset. I don’t feel myself at all.  Training is like my sword and shield to combat negativity.  

Also,  my routine with nutrition was way out of whack because of the work going on.  There were quite a few days when I didn’t have a proper lunch and ate a chocolate bar instead. Shock horror! 

Taking stock of all that, I had a rational, logical conversation with myself.  My feelings of fatness come from a place of being out of my routine.  The scales don’t show anything shocking. It is normal for our scale weight to fluctuate daily  by a kilo (two pounds) 

By next week,  when everything is finished,  I will be back in my normal routine and feeling like myself again. 

And breathe. 

Next time you “feel fat”,  get on the scales if you want but if the number is slightly bigger than you thought, remember that daily fluctuation. 

Ask yourself what is really going on.  What true feelings are you masking by directing it towards you body? 

Don’t make impulse choices based on these feelings,  like overly restrictive dieting or excessive training or even go the other way and start to binge. 

Remind yourself that  fat is not a feeling.  It will pass.