Women’s Empowerment

The most empowering thing we can do as women is to reclaim the power we have over caring for our own bodies.

ARTICLE BY SHANNON DAHLUM

According to Wikipedia, women’s empowerment is a “movement involving respect, honor and recognition toward all women,” It also means “accepting and allowing women who are on the outside of the decision making process into it.” Empowerment is “a process that creates power in individuals over their own lives, society and in their communities.” Women have fought so hard to earn equal pay in the workplace and to have their voices heard in politics. But why is it that when it comes to taking care of our own bodies, we’re so eager to give our power away?

Women have the confidence to vote someone into political office and to raise children as single mothers while working full time jobs, yet when it comes to feeding our bodies we tend to rely on others to tell us what to do. Rather than being guided by our stomachs, we decide when to eat based on what the clock says. We ignore our hunger cues and look to our calorie tracking apps to tell us how much we need to eat. We’re told that carbs make us fat and fruit is high in sugar, so we avoid them like the plague, even if we become constipated and stop sleeping well. In fact, many of us have mistrusted what our bodies have been telling us for so long that we’ve completely lost touch with our body’s signals. We don’t even know when we’re hungry, when we aren’t, when we need more protein, or when we need more sleep. We may be overworked and undernourished, but we still drag ourselves into the gym because we’ve been told that we need to workout hard every day in order to look a certain way. Our bodies can be screaming at us to slow down, but we either don’t recognize those signals or we choose to ignore them because we place more trust in outside sources than we do in ourselves.

When it comes to our bodies, there’s no other person, app, or article that knows what we need any better than our bodies themselves. The most important thing we can do to maintain wellness, a healthy body composition and happiness inside our skin is to get back in touch with our bodies and pay attention to their needs.

In order to “hear” the signals coming from your body, you need to get out of your head and actually feel what’s going on inside. Spend some time every day in silence. Start your day by taking a few breaths with your eyes closed, and mentally scan your body. What do you feel? Take a few breaths before you eat, as well, and notice how you feel again. Eat slowly, so you can actually taste and enjoy your meal, and stop when you feel satisfied, rather than when your plate is empty or your calorie tracker says you’ve had the appropriate serving size. Learn to “feel” what your body needs from the inside rather than looking for outside cues to guide your choices.

If you’re like most women who ignore their physical needs, you’ve probably also lost touch with your emotional needs. Your kids, your family, your friends and your to-do list all come first, leaving your own needs at the end of the line. When your emotional needs are left unmet, though, you’ll wind up tending to them in unhealthy ways. Ignored emotional needs turn into physical cravings and can even lead to addictive behaviors. Unmet needs for connection, creativity, and love can turn into cravings for chips and chocolate which can provide temporary comfort or numb uncomfortable feelings.

Next time you feel hungry, ask yourself if you’re hungry enough for an apple. If an apple doesn’t sound appealing and the only thing that does is processed junk food, then what you’re experiencing isn’t physical hunger, but a craving. Next, explore what else you’re feeling or doing at the time. What kind of void are you trying to fill? Perhaps you’re lonely, tired, or simply bored. Explore ways to deal with your underlying emotional needs rather than temporarily distracting yourself from them with food.

Getting back in touch with your body and learning to hear and trust its signals takes practice. The longer you’ve ignored it, the longer it will most likely take to relearn this innate ability. Sometimes, the guidance of a nutrition coach or a good personal trainer can be a great tool to help get you back on track. Be wary, though, of any approach that lays out specifically what you need to do for your body. Only your body can know that. Remember, too, that your body is a living organism that constantly evolves. As your body changes, its needs will change, too. Once you figure out what your body needs, keep listening! What it needs now isn’t the same thing it’s going to need next week or next year.

I think the most empowering thing we can do as women is to reclaim the power we have over caring for our own bodies. Once we master ourselves, imagine how powerful we can be in all other areas!