Food is often a symbol of other things, such as love, celebration, gratitude, conformity, cultural identity, gender conformity, etc.
Our weight is also not simply about pounds. It can have symbolic meaning. Let’s look a little further into this by contemplating some questions:
What else is food a symbol of for you?
What does your culture say about your weight?
What does your gender tell you about your weight (“women should be…..” “men should be……”)
How do your family members view your weight?
How does your work life affect your weight?
How does your weight affect your work life?
How has your life stage affected your weight (such as becoming new parents, middle-age, kids leaving home)?
We can see how our weight and its related behavior is super-charged by the relational meaning it has. Spend a little time bringing mindful awareness to this topic and see what you uncover.