Doing It By Myself

My daughter was poised to jump with water dripping off her swimsuit while she hollered,

“Don’t catch me, mommy! Do it by self!”

A seasoned swim instructor and fellow mom-tot chorus singer of wheels on the bus said, 

“Good for her, she’s loving that body autonomy.”

I thought about how much body autonomy feels good whether you’re two years old, twenty-two years old or seventy-two years old. Despite the government trying to take away female’s basic body autonomy rights, they can’t take away that you know how good it feels to have control over your own body. 

Body autonomy is a fundamental human right. 

Body autonomy is also the foundation of finding peace with food. 

My two year old daughter knows it feels good to do things she can by herself, even if her clothes are on inside out and backwards and her shoes are on the wrong feet. That’s what feels good to her right now. 

As a kid, you had the same instinct of wanting to do things by yourself and trusting yourself, too. At some point along the way, family, friends, doctors or teachers (we’ve all been sold diet culture’s lies) started chipping away at that self trust and encouraged you to look outside yourself to have other people tell you what was best for you. 

The truth is, only you know what’s right for your body when it comes to food and movement and anyone else trying to dictate what’s right for you body (looking at you weight loss gurus), is trying to take away a fundamental human right. 

This week, I hope you adopt that inner sassy two year old and get a little mad when someone tries to tell you what to do when it comes to food or your body. How could they possibly know what’s best for you? 

You can do it by yourself. I can help show you how with those pretty links below.