Emotional Trauma & Weight Loss
by Meggan Larson
I wrote something on Facebook last week and I wanted to share it with you because I think it’s incredibly relevant to what a lot of us are going through right now. So here goes ~ “I went to sleep last night thinking of a friendship I lost a couple of years ago. This was someone I had been friends with for almost 15 years and someone I genuinely thought would always be a part of my life. It was their choice to end the friendship, and it hurt; a lot. It still does.” I wrote more than that and I’ll share it at the end but I wanted to say something about this…
I wrote more than that and I’ll share it at the end but I wanted to say something about this…
When I wrote that last week I realized that I had been holding onto this pain for years. I knew that I had been because every time I thought of this person I would feel the ache in my heart wishing that things were different and knowing that they would never be the same again. I’ve been reading quite a bit on the topic of emotions and weight and the correlation between weight gain and emotional pain. It’s a sad reality that many of us are holding onto emotional trauma and as a result, we’re holding onto extra weight as well. It really frustrates me that emotional pain results in weight gain. Isn’t it bad enough that we’re hurting?? The good news is though that there is hope. When we deal with the hurt and release the pain, we free up our bodies to do the same.
This is how I ended my facebook post. “As I looked in my garden and saw the flowers coming up that I had previously planted I was suddenly thankful. I didn’t have to do anything to those flowers but plant the bulbs in the fall. They took root on their own, they pushed their way through the dirt, and they sprouted right on time. Reliable, trustworthy, beautiful. It made me thankful for the people in my life that forgive me when I mess up and genuinely love me in my messiness. The friends who don’t have one foot out the door just waiting for you to offend them or inevitably do something that hurts them to give them the excuse they’ve been waiting for to walk away.
As I work on planting new flower seeds with the kids and nurturing those seeds inside I realize how much work can go into planting something new. If it works out it will be beautiful and worth it but they will only last the one season and I will have to do it again next year. There is a time for planting new seeds but it sure does make me grateful for the “bulbs” in my life that sprout with no effort on my part and bring such enriching beauty to my life just by existing. So if you’re a bulb in my life, thank you for being a part of my garden.” It’s much easier to plant a garden when it’s not being choked out by weeds don’t you think?
~ Meggan 🙂
ps…As always I’d love to hear from you so if you have any questions or comments please comment below or email me at Meggan@thelaundrymoms.com
Meggan Larson is a wife, mom of three, and challenge overcomer! Being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and undergoing aggressive chemotherapy when her second born child was only three months old, gave Meggan an expected twist to her life. Dealing with pregnancy weight gain and the debilitating effects of chemotherapy, Meggan’s weight soared to over 228 pounds. Feeling humiliated with no desire to socialize, Meggan was desperate for a change. Shortly after losing 20 pounds with the Trim Healthy Mama program, Meggan found out she was pregnant with baby number three, which ended in an emergency C-section and unexpected hysterectomy. Despite the challenges she faced, Meggan has just celebrated her one year “trimiversary”, and her success of releasing just over 60 pounds! Meggan is confident that her success on plan is “doable” for anyone looking to gain back their health and wanting to live a trim and healthy lifestyle!
