I'm recovering from an eating disorder and I want to be a mom, but I'm afraid I won't be able to handle the changes in my body. What can I do?

First of all, I want to acknowledge that you're in the process of recovery and how positive it is that you can identify and express your fears. As you know, recovery is a difficult process that requires a lot of commitment and consistent effort to gradually release not only the restrictions themselves, but also the limiting beliefs and maladaptive behaviors. Looking at those fears, questioning them, and deciding what to do with them is also part of that journey.

I encourage you to keep working on this, and to surround yourself with specialized professionals who can support you in the process of accepting your body image and its changing nature, not only from a place of self-love and self-esteem, but also by questioning external voices, societal expectations, beauty standards, and fatphobia . Be critical of all those messages we receive from childhood that make us believe we should remain unchanged over time and constantly strive to maintain the lowest weight we once had, hide our tiredness, our stretch marks, disguise cellulite, our wrinkles, cover our pores, and dye our gray hair; in this case, we are urged to return to our former bodies, as if nothing had happened. Ultimately, it's about disguising ourselves and erasing any sign of life.

We must be critical of all those messages we receive from childhood that make us believe that we should remain unchanged over time and continually strive to maintain the weight we once had.

Socially, it seems that if you don't make any effort to hide your appearance, it's considered "neglecting yourself," "letting yourself go," or even a lack of self-love. I firmly believe it's illogical to think that fighting against our changing bodies is the prerequisite for loving ourselves. Our bodies aren't static; they change, and that's (or should be) desirable and natural.