Infuse 5 September 2018 | Page 26

C AS E S TUDY The struggle is beautifully personified in the story of one of my clients, Sarah 1 : “Since I can remember, I’ve always felt uncomfortable in my body and unhappy with my appearance. It’s never been about my features, but always with my size: particularly my legs, arms, hips, and stomach. When I look at myself in the mirror, or when I ‘check’ my body by pinching the fat on my waist I feel hopeless. I‘m fit and healthy, and even though I have lost around 25kg, I can never seem to get to a size that I am happy with. “Well, that‘s not entirely true. A couple of months ago I was at my lowest weight ever; I wasn‘t eating very well (having maybe one coffee and one smoothie a day), and I was also on a new contraceptive pill (which, contrary to most women‘s experiences, seemed to help me lose weight). I weighed 64.5kg, and I remember seeing that number on the scales and seeing my body and for the first time in my entire life, I actually felt content and happy. I‘ve also struggled with restrictive eating, but at this weight, not eating enough didn‘t really bother me: it meant that I was light, and I felt good and people complimented me on my weight loss. However, I went off the pill because it was making me too emotional, and now my weight is back up at around 66-67kg with eating according to my hunger cues. “I finally realised that being grateful to my body was key to giving more love to myself ” - Oprah Winfrey © Dietitian Connection 26 Infuse | September 2018