You Can’t Heal a Body You Secretly Hate, That’s Where Most Diets Fail

At the core of most diet plans lies an unspoken belief: My body is wrong. I am not enough the way I am.
This belief—often rooted in years of societal pressure, comparison, trauma, and shame—creates a toxic relationship with our bodies. We starve them, silence their hunger, push them beyond exhaustion, all in the name of “discipline.”
But you cannot heal something you fundamentally resent.
Imagine a child falling sick. Would you scream at them for being weak? Would you starve them, shame them, or withhold comfort?
No. You’d offer compassion. Rest. Nourishment.
Why is your body any different?

We’re taught to fear fat and idolize thinness. “Thin” becomes shorthand for “healthy,” “disciplined,” and “beautiful,” while anything else becomes a cautionary tale.
So we chase diets the way we chase redemption. If I lose 10 kg, I’ll be worthy. If I can wear a size S, I’ll finally be accepted. If I just eat clean enough, maybe I’ll feel clean inside.
But all diets do is put a bandage on a bullet wound.
They don’t ask why you binge eat after a stressful day.
They don’t ask why the mirror makes you flinch.
They don’t ask why control over food makes you feel safe.
Only healing can do that. And healing begins with listening—not controlling.

Long before body positivity was trending, the Bhagavad Gita quietly offered a radical truth: You are not your body.
Chapter 2, Verse 13, says:
The Gita doesn’t say your body doesn’t matter. It says you are more than your body. Your worth is not measured by your waistline, your acne, your cellulite, or how many calories you burned today.
You are consciousness. Awareness. Soul.
When you begin to see your body as a sacred vehicle—not a flawed project—you begin to treat it with reverence, not resentment.


So what does healing really look like?
It looks like eating a proper meal—not just leaves—when your body is hungry.
It looks like movement that feels good, not punishing.
It looks like rest without guilt.
It looks like crying in the shower because you’re tired of fighting your own reflection—and then deciding to be kinder tomorrow.
Healing is messy. Non-linear. Often boring. It doesn’t come with dramatic before-after pictures. But it’s real.

Here’s what most diets won’t tell you: it’s not just what you eat, but how you feel about what you eat that determines your health.
If your inner dialogue is full of shame—“I’m disgusting,” “I have no control,” “I’ll never be good enough”—your body listens. Stress hormones spike. Digestion suffers. You stay stuck in survival mode.
But when your inner voice softens—“I’m doing my best,” “I deserve nourishment,” “My body is trying to protect me”—healing becomes possible.

For years, I chased every new diet with religious fervor. Keto, intermittent fasting, sugar detox—you name it. I’d lose a few kilos, feel triumphant, and then gain it all back, along with a little more shame.
It wasn’t until I started therapy that I realized my weight obsession was never about food. It was about control. About feeling like I was too much—too emotional, too loud, too hungry, too everything.
The turning point wasn’t a new plan. It was a new question: What if nothing about me needs fixing?
That one question dismantled years of self-loathing. I still eat clean, but not obsessively. I work out, but not to punish myself. And when I see my reflection, I no longer flinch. I nod. I smile.
That’s what healing looks like.


Stop waiting for a certain weight to wear the dress, to say yes to photos, to go on that trip, to fall in love.
You are not a “before” picture. You are a whole human being.
Diets might give you short-term results, but only love can give you lasting peace.
Your body is not the enemy. It’s the home that has kept you alive through everything life has thrown at you.
Treat it like a miracle. Because it is.
If this article made something inside you soften—save it. Share it. Maybe someone else needs to hear that healing doesn’t begin with hate.
It begins with kindness.

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