Dear Stomach- An Open Letter to You

Dear stomach,

Why do I focus on you? Why do I want you to be flat? What causes me to look in the mirror and expect you to look like a magazine ad? Why do I base my self-worth on how I feel about you?

…. I feel bloated = I am not attractive…cover up!

….. Stomach pooch = Lazy

…… Anything but a flat stomach = Unattractive.

Why do I focus on you? And why do I want you to be flat? Why do I look in the mirror, and expect you to look like a magazine ad? I even base my self-worth on how I feel you look. Why?

But do you know what, stomach? You do not define me or my worth.

You do not define my value or my beauty. Dear stomach, you do not define what I should or shouldn’t wear. No, you do not define me.

You do not define what I should do with my day. Likewise, you do not define what I should or shouldn’t eat. You do not define what I do with my time. And no, you do not define how I should feel.

Dear stomach, can we be friends?

You hold all my organs that keep me alive. It’s you who digests delicious food and may hold future babies. You were not made to look like a flat board. I am sorry I expect you to look that way.

Do you know what I really want? I want to be your friend. Now I want to accept you. I want to embrace you at all sizes. I want you to be another part of me and not something that determines my worth. Can we please be friends?

One day I hope to look at you like I look at my toes….just another body part that helps me enjoy life.

I dream of one day embracing every single curve of you…a day when I won’t flinch when you are touched.

One day I want to fully embrace you – regardless of what you look like.

Let’s try and repair our relationship. I want to be your friend.

Even more, I want to be your cheerleader.

Dear stomach, I commit to repairing our relationship by:

• Thanking you daily for what you do for me

• Working on accepting your worth is not defined by your flatness.
• Recognizing that my relationship with you does not align with the true me and that I want to rebuild that.

Stomach, I do not love you right now. But I hope to one day soon ✨