It only takes one poorly phrased comment on someone’s weight (‘don’t eat so much, you’re putting on weight’, etc) to affect their self-image and feelings around food for years to come.
A number of studies carried out have captured the impact of unhelpful language when referring to weight, in particular, that of the parent’s to their daughters. In one retrospective study, a parent’s comment about their daughter’s childhood weight was found to relate to her weight and body dissatisfaction as an adult.
Some Key Points from the research:
- A woman’s dissatisfaction with her adult weight was only related to the extent she remembered her parents making any comments about her weight, but not about how much she ate – even though both were positively related to her BMI
- Even among ‘normal-weight’ young women with similar weights, those who recalled their parents commenting about their weight were more dissatisfied with their body weight
But there is a lesson for all of us to take from this research. In a world where we are told freedom of speech is essential and that honesty is the best policy (both of which I agree with), we still need to remember that people have feelings and that contrary to nursery rhymes (“sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”), words do hurt.
This is a simple rule to remember: Think Before You Speak!
Mind your language and use your emotional intelligence when speaking to and with people in all circumstances but most definitely when referring to health & well-being issues.
Health & Respect, Live Blissfully
YvonneB
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A catalyst for change, Yvonne Bignall is a breath of fresh air in the extraordinary way she helps women 50+ to reconnect with life & their innate power through radical self-care, guilt-free!
She supports, encourages, and inspires women to prioritise their health, one bitesize action at a time. Her work is challenging as it navigates through difficult conversations, listening & observing how women’s health issues have been:
❊ Undermined
❊ Under-resourced &
❊ Swept under the carpet
She helps women to recognise & unpack old scripts that still (sadly enough) tell them that their value derives from their level of caregiving of others, their output. The truth is it is the input, the ability to resource self, which provides women with the energy required to realise their true potential.
Along with her team, she explores the thoughts, behaviour & habits, often born out of guilt, gender expectations, and reinforced narratives, with curiosity (not judgment), discarding the unhelpful, whilst reclaiming innate power through the creation of new patterns, restoring a sense of self, outside of societal expectations. In her opinion, this allows women to:
✔ Develop an elevated level of self-awareness
✔ Build / rebuild their confidence & self-belief
✔ Value all of who they are and invest time in who they want to be at their best
A self-care warrior, an encourager & inspirer, Yvonne is today an award-winning Women’s Health Advocate, Published Author, and an International Presenter. She is also a Radio Show Host and a Podcaster.
Yvonne is focused on building a community of women, www.PermissionToThrive.online, who are ready to reclaim their right to self-care, guilt-free, and who prioritise their health without apology, role-modeling behaviour & habits that inform generations to come of their true value.
She also advocates for self-care over burnout in the workplace, delivering practical webinars in the corporate space. In her own words, “It is time for employees to prioritise their wellbeing. How will they deliver their best work without it?”
One of her favourite quotes comes from Eleanor Brown, ‘Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel’
Connect with Yvonne and,
🌱 Become part of the self-care revolution at Permission to Thrive or
📞 Book a chat to find out about her coaching and corporate services: https://calendly.com/yvonne-b/20min
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