📚 Body Trust Book Club - Weeks 4 & 5
- 58 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Week 4 (Feb 2–8): Chapters 5, 6 & 7
Before we dive in, a quick real-life timing note 💛I’m posting this on Feb 15, even though Week 4 on our original plan was Feb 2–8, and this week (ending today) was technically our catch-up / rest week 🌿
Which means… yes. I am using the catch-up week to catch up.This feels extremely aligned with the spirit of this book club.
If you’re right on schedule — amazing.
If you’re behind, skipped chapters, or are just reading the recaps — also amazing.
The goal was never perfect pacing. It’s curiosity, engagement, and being gentle with ourselves when life inevitably intervenes.
Okay. Onward. 📖✨
Chapter 5: Reckoning With Your Eating
Overall, this chapter is fantastic for folks who are:
at least 60-70% recovered from an eating disorder
Living with disordered eating or healing from chronic dieting
⚠️ Important caveat: For folks in a very active eating disorder, I’d recommend skipping this chapter for now.
Also worth naming — for folks living with ADHD and/or Autism, some strategies here (especially those focused on interoceptive awareness) may not be accessible. Some suggestions might also be too difficult for early or mid-healing, such as:
Carrying around a food bag with a variety of snacks to increase access to food
Offering yourself unconditional permission to eat and enjoy food
That doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong — it just means timing and nervous system capacity matter.
That said, there are some real gems in this chapter:
✨ On unconditional permission to eat
“Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat is the scariest part of the work, because when you start to ask yourself what sounds good, you are going to want all the things you've not been allowed to have. You are healing from years of deprivation… Remember you can't read about this stuff and embody it. It takes practice… Experiences collected over time will help you rebuild trust.” (p145)
✨ Reflective questions worth sitting with
“What words would you use to describe your current relationship with food and eating? What does it feel like right now? … How do you want this relationship to feel?” (p131)
✨ Food deprivation is not neutral
“Food deprivation not only injures our health and metabolism, it also significantly harms our psychological wellbeing and our relationship with food and eating.” (p135)
When the book called the Pacific Northwest “the land of orthorexia,” I laughed and felt sad at the same time — because it feels painfully accurate.(Though I’m not convinced it’s limited to the PNW… it’s just particularly well-disguised here.)
I also deeply appreciated the section addressing “food addiction” — because it is not a real thing. If this is a sticky belief for you, pages 145–148 are worth a careful read (or re-read).
✨ Meal planning, reframed
“This practice is about acknowledging your need to eat regularly. Which is, in essence, acknowledging your humanity.” (p150)
✨ A paragraph that says what I tell clients most days:
“Work on accepting that your body requires food… Nothing you do gets you out of this contract, no matter how hard you try. And while this coping has served you in some ways, over time your body has suffered, your life has become small, and the world misses out on what makes you you.” (p151)
🌊Chapter 6: What Does Grief Have to Do With It?
Instant fan of this chapter. I honestly wish it had been longer or an even bigger part of the book — but it’s absolutely worth reading.
✨ Where grief often lives
“Some of you may be just coming into the idea that it isn’t your fault that trying to change your body hasn’t worked. This is sometimes where grief lives — in understanding that you have not failed, but have been failed.” (p159)
✨ Control vs biological reality
“Grief arises in the dissonance between wanting to believe we can control our bodies and coming to terms with the biological reality that we cannot…” (p162)
✨ My new favourite boundary one-liner
“You know how some people don’t talk about politics or religion? Well, I don’t talk about dieting.” (p168)
(Feel free to substitute: “I don’t talk about weight loss goals or other people’s bodies.”)
✨ Repair, not fixing
“Your relationship with yourself is what you need to repair, not you and certainly not your body… No grand gestures. Just showing up again and again. Doing C- work.” (p168)
Honestly, this might be some of the most grounding guidance in the entire book.
🔥 Chapter 7: Ending the Hustle
Big fan of this chapter title -- If you’ve ever wondered why rest, neutrality, or opting out can feel harder than striving, this chapter helps make sense of that.
✨ Weight talk isn’t neutral
“When weight loss is casually laid on the table, weight stigma and anti-fat bias continue, and eating disorders persist… our weight discussions have roots in racism, ableism, sizeism and a binary view of gender.” (p178)
✨ A note every health care professional needs to read
“Clinicians, note that your ability to feel comfortable offering fat affirmation work will be enhanced by exploring your own body story and process. This is essential work, not specialization.” (p186)
Yes. This is foundational, not optional.
✨ Back to shame (because of course)
“Shame is on the side of control, compliance and being afraid… Shame is not motivational either. It does not create sustained change.” (p187)
I like the emphasis on how ending the hustle doesn’t mean giving up (or "fuck it"), it's about learning how to intentionally let go — it means noticing how much shame, control, and societal pressures are inherently shaped by racism, ableism, anti-fat bias, and healthism. It about identifying how they show up in your thoughts/life (and they are sneaky!), and its about moving towards self & community care and respect.
💛 Wrapping It Up
Whew — that was a LOT to read and think about in a single week (or catch-up week 😉), so let’s pause here before reading more! If its a sunny Sunday where you are, I hope there are a few moments to feel the sun against your face today.
No gold stars.
No perfection.
Just small, consistent, human steps — which means steps will be taken late, out of order, there will be back steps.
⏭️ Coming Up Next
Week 6 (Feb 16–22): Chapters 8 & 9
Week 7 (Feb 23–Mar 1): Chapters 10, 11 & 12 — the end! 🎉
As always:
Read what you can.
Skip what you need.
Trust that being in relationship with the material — imperfectly — is what counts.
Or as the authors say, aim for C- effort💕
More soon 💫