r/BodyPositive

I (35) recovered from a severe illness and everything in my life is better than ever except for my relationship with my belly. I feel gassy and big on most days, and there is some (life saving) fat that needs to be there but makes me feel insecure about myself. I never had this shape before and I'd like to rewire my brain into a kinder frequency.

If you went through something similar, how did you reach the other side?

I didn’t realize how many demons I’d have from it. The mirrors made me feel bad at times. I have a sensitivity surrounding physical activity because at a young age I felt as if I couldn’t dance, or do sports because of my body. I did dance ages 9-13 (not in ballet), because I felt pressured to since my cousin was constantly bragging about how talented her daughter was that she did dance, and how I was lesser since I didnt. Needless to say I got bored of dance, and realized I only did it to fit in.

I had classes for the 2nd semester for the first time yesterday at my studio. I’ve been practicing a lot in the 6 weeks I’ve been off. During these 6 weeks I had to seek healing, because the last thing I want is
For ballet to be a source of body dysmorphia. I truly enjoy it, and I should be happy, not sad.

In the meantime I’ve lost a lot of weight, I’m down 22 pounds as of August 2025. Since starting ballet I lost 9 pounds total. It was scary coming in as someone who didn’t have the typical ballet body. But I realized I had a lot of limiting self beliefs. My body CAN dance. I am a DANCER. The important part wasn’t the weight loss, but trying something new and realizing I could do it.