How to Rebuild Body Trust After Years of Dieting
It's Not Your Fault You Don’t Trust Your Body
If you’ve spent years dieting, tracking, restricting, or trying to “fix” your body, it makes complete sense that trusting it now feels foreign, maybe even unsafe. Diet culture teaches us that our bodies must be controlled. Trauma teaches us that safety isn’t guaranteed. And eating disorders reinforce the belief that internal signals can’t be trusted.
But here’s the truth:
Your body hasn’t failed you; it has survived you. And it can be trusted again.
Rebuilding body trust is not about willpower, positivity, or letting go overnight. It’s a slow, compassionate process rooted in science, nervous system healing, and reconnecting with who you are underneath diet culture’s noise.
Why Dieting Breaks Body Trust
Dieting disconnects you from your internal cues: hunger, fullness, pleasure, rest, and safety. Over time, your body learns that you won’t respond to its signals, so those signals become quieter, erratic, or replaced by intense binge urges, cravings, or numbness.
From a trauma lens, this is protective. Your body says:
“If you’re not going to listen, I’ll shout… and if shouting doesn’t work, I’ll shut down.”
Your thoughts might sound a bit like: “You should eat less. You’re not disciplined enough.”, “You need to be thinner, healthier, better.”
These thoughts aren’t you; they’re internalised survival responses. And they can be healed.
What Happens to Your Body After Years of Dieting
Research shows that chronic dieting:
lowers your metabolic rate
increases food preoccupation
heightens binge responses
disrupts hunger and satiety hormones (ghrelin and leptin)
triggers the brain to defend your set point weight
increases cortisol and stress-based eating
Your body is not “out of control”; it’s doing what biology tells it to do when it has been deprived.
Rebuilding Body Trust: What Actually Works
Shift From Control to Collaboration
Instead of “How do I manage my body?” Try: “What is my body communicating, and how can I respond with care?”
Start Noticing Subtle Internal Cues
Years of dieting can mute hunger, fullness, and pleasure cues. Start small:
Notice your energy levels throughout the day
Pay attention to irritability, headaches, fogginess
Track emotions that show up before you eat
Ask, “What does my body need right now?”
These are the first sparks of interoceptive awareness returning.
Replace Rules With Rhythms
Your body doesn’t need rules, it needs predictability and nourishment. Try:
Regular meals
Gentle and yummy snacks
Consistent hydration
Predictable sleep and rest
Structure builds safety. Safety builds trust.
Challenge Diet Culture Voices With Compassion, Not Logic
When your mind says, “You can’t trust your hunger.”
Try responding with “My body is learning how to feel safe again. Hunger is a sign of healing.”Build Safety Through the Nervous System
You cannot trust your body if your body doesn’t feel safe. Try:
grounding exercises
co-regulating with others
gentle movement
sensory comfort
slow eating
warm meals
breathwork
Safety isn’t an idea; it’s a physiological state.
Work With a Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician (Psychologist and Dietitian)
Healing body distrust often uncovers deeper narratives:
“I’m too much.”
“My needs aren’t safe.”
“I’m only worthy when I’m small.”
Therapies like Schema Therapy, Focal Psychodynamic Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), trauma-informed CBT and DBT can help clients rewrite these internalised messages while restoring a compassionate relationship with their body.
You don’t have to rebuild body trust alone.
What Rebuilding Trust Eventually Feels Like
Clients often describe:
fewer food rules
more stability around eating
feeling safe in their body again
less obsessiveness about weight
reduced binges or urges
eating becomes intuitive, calm, and flexible
This is possible. Not quickly. Not perfectly. But deeply.
A Gentle Reminder
If you’ve spent years fighting your body, you are allowed to spend the next chapter listening to it.
Your body is not the enemy.
Your body is not broken.
Your body is waiting for you.
And trust , like recovery, grows slowly and steadily, one compassionate choice at a time.
If you are ready to speak to a psychologist whose passionate about breaking diet culture from a compassionate and affirming lense, contact us to see if we may be the right fit.
Note: The information provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and is NOT intended as medical /psychological advice. Please consult a healthcare professional for personalised guidance.
