You Were Never Broken

I wish I could go back and tell my younger self this.

The version of me who thought her body was difficult. The one who felt like she was always behind — behind on energy, behind on health, behind on feeling good in her own skin.

I spent so long thinking I needed to be fixed.

Fixed by a better routine. A stricter plan. More discipline. Less food. More willpower.

I thought if I could just figure it out, my body would finally cooperate.

But here’s the truth I didn’t know then:

My body was never broken. It was protecting me.

The Things I Used to Call “Problems”

I used to hate my symptoms.

The bloating. The fatigue. The moods. The cravings. The weight that wouldn’t move no matter what I did.

I thought they meant I was doing something wrong.

Now I see them differently.

They were my body saying:

• “I’m tired.”

• “I’m stressed.”

• “I don’t feel safe yet.”

• “I need consistency.”

Not punishment. Not failure.

Communication.

Why This Realization Changes Everything

Once I stopped seeing my body as the enemy, everything shifted.

I stopped asking:“What’s wrong with me?”

And started asking:“What have I been asking my body to survive?”

Long days. Skipped meals. Constant pressure. No real rest. Always pushing.

Of course my body adapted.

Of course it held on. Of course it slowed things down.

That wasn’t weakness.

That was intelligence.

Your Body Has Been on Your Side This Whole Time

This is the part no one tells women:

Your body doesn’t betray you. It protects you.

Even when it feels uncomfortable. Even when it feels frustrating. Even when it doesn’t look the way you want it to.

It’s always choosing survival first.

And once you understand that, you stop trying to fight it into submission.

You start working with it.

The Softening That Happens When You Stop Fighting

When I stopped trying to “win” against my body, things got quieter.

Food felt less dramatic. Symptoms felt less scary. Health felt less like a full-time job.

I wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t suddenly healed.

But I trusted myself more.

And my body noticed.

If You’ve Ever Felt Disconnected from Your Body

If you’ve ever felt like your body was something you had to manage, control, or apologize for — I want you to hear this:

You don’t need to earn your body’s trust.

It’s already been trying to take care of you.

You just needed space to listen.

This Is the Part Where You Let Yourself Off the Hook

You don’t need to punish yourself for what didn’t work before.

You didn’t fail those plans.

Those plans failed to consider you.

Your life. Your stress. Your hormones. Your nervous system.

You were doing the best you could with the information you had.

And now you know more.

One Last Thing, From Me to You

If no one has told you this yet, let me be the one:

You are not behind. You are not weak. You are not broken.

You are learning how to listen to a body that has been carrying you through a lot.

And that counts for something.

Next time, we’ll talk about what to do next — gently, simply, without overwhelm.

But for now, sit with this:

Your body has always been on your side

Love, Abby