I started taking the pill at 16 because my periods were so painful. In college, I switched to an implant. College is also the time when I fell into the traps laid by diet culture – dieting, over-exercising and generally hating my body in an effort to be skinny (which consequently meant being attractive).
I truly believe that there is a connection between shutting down an essential part of my female body and the body image problems I experienced later on. Ignorance of my body made it easy for me to fall prey to diet culture. I couldn’t love myself because I didn’t know myself. I couldn’t educate myself about my body because I was on artificial hormones that altered my natural body.
Ignorance of my body made it easy for me to fall prey to diet culture. I couldn’t love myself because I didn’t know myself.
Johnna Wilford
Natural Family Planning (NFP) was transformative for me both mentally and physically. I spent the majority of my twenties focused on hating my body. I obsessed about weight and truly believed that my happiness was dependent on having six pack abs or an hourglass figure.
Charting my cycle has helped me heal my relationship with my body. With cycle charting, I can see real-time data about questions I ask myself like: “Am I nourished, energized, and whole? Do I have a healthy relationship with food and exercise that isn’t affecting my cycle? Am I engaging in fitness and wellness culture without harming my body?” And finally, “Am I showing myself love and compassion?”
The body literacy I gained from NFP allowed me to stop focusing all of my energy on what my body looked like and to start seeing all that it could do. I finally understood how my female body worked, which made me feel confident & comfortable in my own skin. Through NFP, I slowly learned to love, appreciate, and accept my body in all of its iterations.
