EP 252: "I Hate My Stomach, Now What?" Real Talk + 7 Tools for Your Food Freedom Journey🩷 cover art

EP 252: "I Hate My Stomach, Now What?" Real Talk + 7 Tools for Your Food Freedom Journey🩷

EP 252: "I Hate My Stomach, Now What?" Real Talk + 7 Tools for Your Food Freedom Journey🩷

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 "Lindsey, I hate my stomach. I can't stop thinking about it. It's ruining my day, my mood, my recovery. What do I do?" If your stomach is your biggest trigger in recovery - if you can't stop looking at it, obsessing over whether it looks bigger, spiraling every time you see your reflection - this episode is for you, girlfriend. Host Lindsey Nichol gets real about stomach hate in recovery and shares something her client needed to hear today: "I may not love my stomach every day, but if I'm being honest? I didn't love my stomach every day when I was in the trenches of my eating disorder either." So here's the question: Which hard do you want? Hard #1: Hating your stomach while you're restricting, obsessing, body checking, over-exercising, and missing your life. Hard #2: Sometimes not loving your stomach, but being FREE. Living your life. Eating with family. Being present. Having energy. Both are hard. But only one leads to freedom. In this episode, Lindsey shares her own stomach struggles - how she used to search for evidence it was "blowing up," how it would send her into spirals of restriction and over-exercise, and what she does NOW on the days when she doesn't love her stomach. Plus, she gives you 7 practical tools you can use on your hardest days. This is real talk with practical help. No toxic positivity. No "just love yourself." Just honest truth and actionable tools for when your stomach triggers you. In This Episode, You'll Hear: Lindsey's Stomach Story: The Disorder Days How she was super conscious of her stomach feeling or looking biggerSearching for evidence it was "blowing up" - every mirror, reflection, windowThe spirals: restriction, over-exercise, mood switchesFeeling out of control and reacting - being short or avoidant with loved onesHow stomach hate controlled her entire day, every day The Truth Bomb: Choose Your Hard Hard #1: Hating your stomach while trapped in the eating disorderHard #2: Sometimes not loving your stomach but being FREEThe reality: Even at her lowest weight, Lindsey STILL didn't love her stomachThe question: What other options do you have?Why you have to choose which hard you want to live with Why the Stomach Specifically? Why the stomach is such an easy target for self-criticismHow society and social media have trained us to hate our stomachsWhy the stomach becomes the "safe" target instead of dealing with real feelingsThe truth: Restriction makes stomach issues WORSE (digestion, bloating)Reality check: Stomachs are SUPPOSED to change throughout the dayAren't stomachs supposed to be FULL? That's their job What Lindsey Does NOW on Hard Days Wears baggy clothes, not restrictive clothingAvoids opportunities to stare in the mirror and body checkReminds herself of the truth: stomachs are allowed to changeThinks about her little girl self who never cared about her stomachRemembers being pregnant and LOVING watching her stomach growAccepts that not loving her stomach doesn't mean she's failed The Shift That Changed Everything The realization: She was NEVER going to like her stomach at any size or weightHer stomach wasn't the problem - it was a tool for self-sabotageUsed stomach hate when feeling out of control or "not enough"The only way through was acceptance and perspective shiftUnderstanding that stomach hate is usually about something else entirely 7 Tools for Your Hardest Days Stop the Body Checking - Walk away from mirrors, put on baggy clothesAsk the Real Question - What am I really feeling? What am I avoiding?Function Over Form - Your stomach digests food, that's its jobRemember Your Little Girl Self - You didn't care about your stomach as a kidChoose Your Hard - Trapped and hating it OR free and sometimes not loving itWear Comfortable Clothes - Stop punishing yourself with restrictive clothingTalk Back to the Voice - "My stomach is allowed to change and that's okay" Key Takeaways: ✨ You didn't love your stomach in the disorder either - so what are you really choosing? ✨ There are two hards: choose yours - trapped with stomach hate OR free with occasional stomach discomfort ✨ Your stomach is not the problem - it's a symptom, a distraction from real feelings ✨ Restriction makes stomach issues WORSE - bloating, digestion problems increase with restriction ✨ Stomachs are supposed to change - throughout the day, after meals, when sitting vs standing ✨ The stomach is an easy target - easier to hate your stomach than deal with underlying fears ✨ You'll never be satisfied at any size - if stomach hate is really about control and self-sabotage ✨ Body checking makes it worse - the more you look, the more you spiral ✨ Function over form - your stomach's job is to digest food, not be flat 24/7 ✨ Little girl you didn't care - the goal isn't loving your stomach, it's living without it controlling you ✨ You don't have to love it to live - freedom doesn't require stomach love, just stomach acceptance Powerful Quotes from This Episode: "I may not love my ...
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