You Don't Have to Be Overweight to Feel Stuck in Your Body

Let me clear something up.

I have never been obese. I have never been clinically overweight.

But I have felt it. And I want to talk about that. Because I think there are a lot of women walking around feeling trapped in a body that doesn't feel like them, who don't think they're allowed to say so. Who minimise it because they don't fit the profile of someone who's supposed to struggle.

This is for you.

What it actually felt like

My clothes were tight and uncomfortable. Particularly around my belly. There was no moment in the day where I felt at ease in what I was wearing.

Every time I looked in the mirror I was looking for muscle definition that wasn't there. Instead I felt wobbly. Jiggly. Heavy. Like I was carrying something that wasn't mine.

I avoided photos. I avoided videos. And when I look back at them now I think — you probably didn't look as bad as you felt. But here's the thing.

It doesn't matter what I actually looked like. Because it was a feeling.

And that feeling was real. The tightness. The discomfort. The despondence of thinking how long is this going to take. The sense of walking around in a body that didn't represent my truest self.

You don't have to be a certain size to feel that. You just have to be human.

The turning point

It was winter. And instead of fighting where I was, I decided to use it.

I set an intention. I knew that winter was the perfect time to use that surplus, that extra body fat I was carrying, as fuel to build muscle. So that's exactly what I did. I recomped my body. Used the fat as fuel. Built something underneath.

And there was something deeply comforting about having a plan. About knowing that by the end of September, at the latest, I would feel like myself again. Not because I was wishing and hoping. But because I had the knowledge, the tools and the structure to make it happen.

Within two weeks of moving into a deficit I felt completely different. Not just physically. Mentally.

Because those hard months, the wobbles, the moments of not feeling good in my body — they had a purpose. There was a plan behind them. And doing something about it, something long term and intentional, built something in me that no number on a scale ever could.

Self trust.

And that can never be taken away from me.

What I want you to know

You don't have to feel powerless where you are right now.

You can use this moment as fuel. You can put an intention behind it. You can build a structure around it. And you can get to the other side feeling stronger, leaner and more like yourself than you have in years.

You don't need to have lost 30kg to deserve support. You don't need to hit rock bottom to decide you want better.

You just need a plan. And someone who knows exactly how it feels to be exactly where you are.

That's why I do this work. Not from a textbook. From lived experience.

And I promise you, the woman on the other side of this is worth every hard day it takes to get there.

Ready to stop feeling stuck?

If you're where I was — carrying those extra few kilos that don't feel like you and wanting to use them as fuel to build something stronger — Power Up was built for exactly this.

12 weeks of guided recomping. Lose the fat. Build the muscle. Feel like yourself again.

https://www.jennapoole.com/power-up

Or if you're just getting started and need the foundation first, The Reset is your first step.

jennapoole.com/the-reset

Happy Day! 

Jenna 
Functional Nutritionist