How Bodybuilding Healed My Relationship With Food

My health and fitness journey began when I was 15. I had just quit figure skating, was on the high school rugby team, and had just been introduced to weight training at my local community center. There was a lot of change and uncertainty in my life at the time, and I started to experience feelings of anxiety and dissatisfaction with my body.

For most of my life, I ate whatever I wanted, but with a dark cloud of guilt. I had a fairly robust appetite and was always a bit of a “thicker” girl, so second helpings of meals and snacks weren’t encouraged by peers and relatives. For the most part, I ate healthily, but would tend to overindulge when treats were present and never really knew how to enjoy in moderation. Thus, the constant feelings of guilt about eating and my body.

By 16, I had restricted my intake to the point of needing outpatient counselling for anorexia nervosa. While I’ve been fully recovered from my ED for over 10 years, I can honestly say that bodybuilding improved my relationship with food EVEN MORE!

Here’s how bodybuilding helped heal my relationship with food and my body:

1. I have a much better understanding of exercise and nutrition.

Before bodybuilding, I didn’t understand the concepts of maintenance calories, macronutrients, and caloric intake vs output. In my eyes, eating was something to be closely monitored and restricted, while exercise was a way to prevent fat gain. There’s so much more to it than that.

Having proper education surrounding the power of proper nutrition and how it should be used to fuel training and muscle development has allowed me to release my fears around food and embrace it as a powerful tool. 

2. It’s allowed me to develop complete control over my body.

I've gone through four weight gain and weight loss cycles in my bodybuilding journey. And while each phase can be a little uncomfortable, trusting the process and fully investing in each has allowed me to see the benefits of eating in a surplus and the power it can have for fat loss later on. I’ve learned which variables to manipulate to change my body and know that I have complete control to transform my physique. 

3. I no longer let scale weight dictate my mood or worth. 

Scale weight is simply a data point that tells only a small fraction of information about my body. Once upon a time, I strived to be 125 lbs because I thought a smaller number was better. Today, I look better at 160 lbs than I did back at 145 lbs because I’ve taken the time to build solid lean muscle mass. The scale is not the be-all end-all of how your body looks.

4. I no longer have black and white rules about food.

Food is a tool that can take me closer to my goals, but it can also be nourishing to the soul. There’s no need to look at it with fear or regret.

5. I choose foods that make me feel good.

Through this sport, I’ve learned about my own body, how it works, and what foods it prefers and digests well. This makes it much easier to make food choices that fit my goals, rather than basing them on what is deemed “good” or “bad” and then feeling immense guilt or regret for my choices. 

This mindset around food didn’t happen overnight. It took many years and many uncomfortable moments of simply trusting the process. Instead of keeping myself in the restrict, indulge, and regret cycle, I allowed myself to eat more, fuel my training, build muscle, and heal my body and mind.

If you need some extra help breaking out of that same negative cycle around food, reach out for a free 10-minute consult call, and let’s build your unique healthy mindset strategy!