Reclaiming Body Trust Book Club: Week 1

Letssss Go! Week 1!! 🎉

As a reminder, here’s my suggestion for reading along with me — and as always:

✨ you are never behind ✨

Read as much or as little as you can each week. If you’re just joining now, or didn’t get to all three chapters yet, you are exactly where you need to be. I’m really glad you’re here.

If you want a little extra structure/community, I’m also experimenting with StoryGraph’s book club / readalong feature. You can find me there if that’s helpful:https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/monicafreudenreich

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📖 Reading Schedule Reminder

This week (Jan 12–18): Pages 1–36

“I Am a Person Reclaiming Body Trust,” Introduction, The Foundations of Body Trust

Jan 19–25: Part 1 — Chapters 1 & 2

Jan 26–Feb 1: Part 1 — Chapter 3, Part 2 — Chapter 4

Feb 2–8: Part 2 — Chapters 5, 6 & 7

Feb 9–15: Catch-Up / Rest Week 🌿

Feb 16–22: Part 3 — Chapters 8 & 9

Feb 23–Mar 1: Chapters 10, 11 & 12

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Week 1 Thoughts

What an opening. Truly. I loved all of it — and I keep coming back to this section. If ever there was a mantra for 2026, let it be this:

“I will not betray you body, for an endless diet or self-improvement project

I will not confuse thinness for health.

I will no longer objectify myself nor will I continue to invest in oppressive beauty standards.

I am a person reclaiming my movement, my rhythm, my flow.

I seek satisfaction and explore pleasure.

I value my inner peace, my self-worth more than the approval of the outside stigma and hate influencing eyes.” (p.2)

Whew. That’s one I want to come back to again and again.

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The Introduction

I’m curious how you reacted to the two questions that open the book:

• What has become between you and feeling at home in your body?

• How did you first come to learn that your body was a problem?

I also really appreciated this reminder — especially if you’re reading this and thinking “yeah, but maybe I am the exception”:

“You may not believe us when we tell you that none of this is your fault. You are not broken. We promise there does not need to be a separate set of rules for you.” (p.2)

Food, “Addiction,” and Pathologizing Pleasure

The section on “food addiction” is one I talk about a lot, especially with folks who come to me worried about binge eating. This line is a yes-please 👏 , louder-for-the-people-in-the-back 📣 moment:

“You may have heard that sugar lights up the same parts of the brain as heroin. This phenomenon is why many believe it's addictive. But you know what else lights up that part of the brain? Music, humor, a smile from a stranger, a good hug, falling in love. But we don't seem to pathologize these things.” (p.13)

Exactly. Pleasure isn’t the problem. Your body and hunger and "food noise" isn't wrong, broken or a problem.

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Foundations of Body Trust

This is a line I find myself returning to again and again in both individual and group therapy — especially because resistance to self-compassion is often really strong. For most (all?) of us, loosening our grip on the inner critic feels scary. That voice may be harsh, but it’s familiar, and it often feels like the thing keeping us accountable, safe, or “on track.”

And yet:

“One thing we know for sure is that if beating yourself up and talking to yourself like you are a horrible human being worked, you would have arrived a long time ago!” (p.28)

This is such an important reframe. Self-compassion isn’t about letting yourself off the hook or lowering standards — it’s about creating a gentle, solid place to land when you mess up, so growth is actually possible.

And for those of you who read Fierce Self-Compassion with us in the fall — did you catch the nod to Kristin Neff’s research? This passage felt like a beautiful distillation of that work (and honestly, more accessible than her very academic book):

Research from Kristin Neff shows that self-compassion is associated with more intrinsic motivation, learning and growth goals, curiosity and exploration, and less fear of failure.

There is a difference between tough love and holding yourself gently accountable. There is a difference between integrity and brute force. Love is a verb — an action.

Feeling in alignment and in integrity with yourself creates the conditions for a solid place to land when you mess up. A gentle place. A real place. Meeting yourself in your humanity is the work.

✨ chef’s kiss ✨

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TL;DR - Week 1 Wrap Up

• Your body is not broken, and you didn’t fail at trusting it — something interrupted that trust, and that makes sense.

• Whatever you felt while reading — comforted, unsettled, resistant, emotional, or a little numb — it all belongs here.

• Didn’t finish (or start) the reading yet? No worries. You’re still part of this.

Closing note: Catch you on StoryGraph, in the comments (below), or next week — can’t wait to hear what you think!