Embracing the Edge of Comfort: The Key to Reaching your Food and Body Image Goals

Ever found yourself at the edge of a comfort zone, heart pounding with the fear of the unknown? I've been there, and let me tell you, it's where the magic of transformation begins. Our latest conversation dives into the heart of discomfort, peeling back the layers to reveal its invaluable role in reshaping our relationship with food and body image. With the wisdom of lived experiences, I unravel personal mantras and strategies that have guided me through the unease and towards a place of self-compassion and courage. It's about taking those small steps, hand-in-hand with a community who gets it, and learning that bravery doesn't mean fearlessness—it's about choosing to move forward, even when every fiber of your being resists.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, food and Body Image Warriors, I am so glad you
are joining today.
Today we are going to betalking about the key to change,
the key to changing ourrelationship with food and body
and getting to a place ofultimate freedom.
And what is that?
That is, getting uncomfortable,straying away from comfort and

(00:26):
getting uncomfortable.
An objection I hear so often isthis is uncomfortable, so it
must be wrong.
And this is uncomfortable, andI fear X, y or Z right, this is
uncomfortable and I fear I willbe uncomfortable forever.
The discomfort will not go away.

(00:48):
What if it sticks?
This is an objection I hearvery often to moving in the
direction that we know we needto be moving in making the
changes we know we didn't needto be making, making the changes
we know that are going totransform our life.
Now I want to start by saying afew things that you could some

(01:09):
mantras you can repeat toyourself about discomfort.
Discomfort does not mean bad.
Being uncomfortable does notequate to being wrong.
Discomfort doesn't mean you'regoing in the wrong direction.
Now it's uncomfortable to stopour dieting, disordered eating

(01:30):
and body shaming behaviors, andhow we physically feel as we're
moving through our and mentallytoo, how we feel when we're
moving through recovery frombinge eating, restrictive eating
, disordered eating, diets, bodyimage healing it's all going to
be very uncomfortable, veryuncomfortable.
And that's something to noteand know before you're moving

(01:53):
forward so that you don't havethese incorrect expectations and
so that you're ready to getuncomfortable.
The thoughts getting louderaround disordered eating, you
know, and around body imagethat's uncomfortable.
Not knowing if the directionwe're heading in is the correct
direction and not knowing what'sto come and leaning into that

(02:15):
hope that's uncomfortable.
Building our window oftolerance that's uncomfortable.
Being hard things isuncomfortable.
Change humans, hate changethat's uncomfortable.
Looking our fears isuncomfortable.

(02:35):
Navigating all the unknowns isvery uncomfortable.
Doing something different isuncomfortable.
Rewiring is uncomfortable.
Learning body acceptance isuncomfortable.
Practicing intuitive eating isuncomfortable.
Bringing all foods back in isuncomfortable.
It is all so very uncomfortable, and those are exactly the

(03:02):
things we need to be doing.
That uncomfortable feeling isgoing to feel wrong.
It can feel wrong.
It can feel like we're doingsomething that is leading us in
a bad direction and it leads usto judge that feeling and
conclude that we shouldn't bedoing that thing.
And this couldn't be furtherfrom the truth.

(03:23):
Many times when we are gettinguncomfortable, we are
experiencing that discomfortbecause we're doing something
that that anxious part of us,that fearful, that avoidant part
, is not happy with, because itfeels like we're we're doing
something in disservice to us,because we're not doing what
we're so used to doing in orderto quote-unquote protect

(03:47):
ourselves.
Okay, it feels different.
There's an analogy I use a lotand that is the feeling of when
we move, maybe into a new house,a new town.
A lot of times we are moving toa new town, a new house that we
have chosen because we knowthat is what's best for us,

(04:07):
that's going to give us the lifethat we want, it's going to
give us the community we want,it's gonna fit our family better
, whatever it might be right.
And despite that, when peoplemove, there's a huge sense of
discomfort and like lonelinessand just does not feel.
It does not feel great, andthat's because it's a change.
Does that mean we shouldn't bemoving?

(04:29):
No, absolutely not.
It just means that when there'schange, when there's discomfort
, or when there's change,there's going to be discomfort
and we have to lean in, we haveto give it time, we have to be
okay with getting uncomfortable.
So here are ways in which youcan start getting uncomfortable

(04:51):
right now.
Alright, how can you get morecomfortable with being
uncomfortable?
Let's talk about it.
The first thing here isredefined discomfort.
I want you to redefine whatdiscomfort means and that
connection you have with whatdiscomfort means.
How do you know discomfortmeans growth?

(05:15):
How can you connect with theidea that discomfort means you
are growing?
How can you connect discomfortwith moving in the direction you
want to be moving in yourrelationship with food and body?
The next thing you can do to getmore comfortable with being
uncomfortable is start small.
Increase your window oftolerance with discomfort by

(05:36):
asking yourself how can I get alittle more uncomfortable today?
Make it manageable by breakingit down into smaller parts and
build your window of toleranceand your safety there.
No peace is too small, nothingis too small.
The next item surround yourselfwith people who will encourage

(05:56):
and you should think, encourageand support your discomfort.
Okay, surround yourself withpeople that are going to
encourage you and support you inthat discomfort.
Get a cheerleader, get asupport system.
The next thing work on raisingawareness and challenging

(06:17):
yourself.
Talk Are you saying I can'thandle this discomfort?
This is impossible, this is toodifficult?
How is this talk holding youback?
Raise awareness around thatself-talk because it's going to
influence your behaviors greatlyand your beliefs.
Say something more like this isvery uncomfortable, but it's

(06:41):
not impossible.
This is very uncomfortable, butI'm going to build my window of
tolerance around thisdiscomfort.
Next thing acknowledge the feararound this discomfort.
It's okay to be fearful.
Practice compassion, practiceacceptance around that
discomfort.
Say I'm afraid, I'm afraid, andunderstand it's okay to be

(07:04):
fearful.
Courage does not mean nothaving fear.
It means doing the thingdespite having that fear.
I'm going to say that again.
Courage does not mean not havingthat fear.
It means doing the thingdespite having that fear.
We can get used to beinguncomfortable.
We can build our window oftolerance.

(07:25):
And getting uncomfortable meanschange, which means doing
things differently, which meanshaving a different life, a
different relationship with foodand body.
Okay, discomfort is very, very,very normal.
It's very normal and feelingdiscomfort is really to be
expected and it's also somethingto be celebrated.

(07:45):
I celebrate with my clients sooften for getting uncomfortable
and what that discomfort bringsthem and all that they share,
that that discomfort has taughtthem.
Rather than acting withautomatic behaviors and judgment
, get curious with yourdiscomfort.
Practice sitting with thefeeling, with mindful awareness,
with compassion.
Make an intentional choice tomove forward with that

(08:06):
discomfort.
We really it's absolutelynecessary to get uncomfortable
to grow.
We cannot grow withoutdiscomfort.
So I'm going to leave you todaywith asking you how can you work
to get uncomfortable today andtomorrow and every day, to help

(08:27):
transform your relationship withfood and body and get to the
place you truly desire?
Alright, with that, I'm goingto go ahead and leave you and
also invite you to my two-dayfree mini course, which is all
about navigating andunderstanding and transforming
our relationship with body imageby finally ditching diets,

(08:47):
disordered eating and moving toa place for full food and body
image freedom that issustainable.
So I'm very excited to inviteyou to that.
If you DM me the word freedomon Instagram at JamieRD
underscore, I will send it rightover.
Alright, until next time.
Stay brave, stay strong.
I'm very proud of you and wewill chat next time.