Of course when you have a group of women there will be some body envy and body comparison. Each body is as different as the woman who wears it. Coming from a life of diet restrictions, drug aided diets, and eating disorders- once a survivor begins to feel a felt sense of safety and begins to eat daily and gain weight; they will either accept or reject her new body. Survivors no longer need to live to any person's standard Encourage women to eat when they feel hunger and provide fresh fruit and vegetables along with healthy food choices.
Encourage the survivors in your care to accept and experience the joy and freedom that comes with self agency. Educate survivors on self care and compassion for themselves. Remind them that they are only now at the beginning of their journey and if they are unhappy with their new body, wait. This is only one season and if you’re growing and healing you are also changing and change is good!
When you bear witness to the name calling or even body envy comparisons, end it immediately lest clients again lean on food restrictions in an effort to fit in or feel better about themselves. This is only a temporary relief that winds up with serious long term effects. Ladies will also tend to wear the clothes that use to fit their thinner body’s and now struggle to conservatively cover their parts. They fear releasing that size XS for the new body’s needs of a M or XL.
Teach ladies that size labels do NOT matter when you dress to fit the body you now have. Perhaps institute a modest dress code. Encourage daily physical activity. Also, in order to promote self love you as the advocate must also exhibit that self acceptance and confidence that you intend to teach. This may not seem like a big issue but body shaming and body envy is a real struggle for some women. Be prepared, be compassionate and be assertive in your effort to end it whenever it crops up.
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