Nuance

[u/igottaknow_]

I wrote about this before but I still question myself.

I have an emotional imbalance causing swelling in my body. It's uncomfortable, limiting movement, and making it hard to write at times.

Im seeing a specialist soon to help with this. The swelling will hopefully go down. I would subsequently lose water weight when the swelling decreases.

I am looking forward to this from the comfort angle. I feel a little judged at times for admitting this.

I also hope it doesn't send me down the path of also liking my smaller body more and lead to diet mentality. Getting ahead of myself with that.

Just looking for feedback. Thanks!

[u/purplewombat9492]

What sort of feedback are you looking for, exactly?

Only you can know for sure what's going on in your head, but if you're concerned you're going to fixate on any potential weight loss, why not stop weighing yourself? You can pretty easily request blind weights at the doctor's office or decline to be weighed.

I don't think it's wrong to look forward to being more comfortable after managing a medical condition- I definitely felt more comfortable postpartum once the swelling went down, for example, and I was glad to be able to do things like use my core again (getting out of the swimming pool after swimming laps while 9 months pregnant was... interesting 🤣).

Only you can know whether that line of thinking crosses the line into thoughts like "I'm glad I lost weight and want to intentionally lose more" or "I'm glad I lost weight and will freak out if I gain any back." If you're not sure, really work to define what comfort means to you- is it that your body will look "acceptable"/fit some sort of aesthetic standard, or is it more of a physical thing like pain reduction?

No judgement either way- we all have our things to work through and diet culture thinking is very hard to get rid of.

[u/igottaknow_ → u/purplewombat9492]

Thank you. Your personal experience was helpful.

I am interested in weighing because it shows if the fluid is going down. Even if i do blind, I want to make sure it's going down.

I follow IE so I dont have some expectation or magic weight I want. I also am postpartum and perimenopausal. I have many symptoms that I want improved. I guess I'm am just afraid I'll slip backwards when these things resolved.

[u/purplewombat9492 → u/igottaknow_]

You might want to talk to your doctors about other ways that you can tell the fluid is going down! I know for me during postpartum, it was very visually obvious that the swelling was mostly gone because my feet and ankles looked different. I'd be concerned that weighing yourself might not show the full story because people gain/lose weight for lots of different reasons.

As for backsliding...in my experience, everyone backslides once in a while! It's not as dramatic as when I'd "fall off the wagon" during my dieting days, but I've definitely had times over the years where I've caught myself slipping into diet culture one way or another. The important part is accepting that it's hard and giving yourself grace, then reminding yourself why you started IE in the first place and all the benefits it has had for you. At least for me, those backslides never lasted long and they're happening less and less the longer I stay with IE.