Welcome back to Rebuilding Trust With Your Body, it’s Katy here. 

When I was a little kid, my security blanket was a Bugs Bunny stuffie and I took it everywhere with me.

As I got older, I couldn’t keep carrying Bugs Bunny with me everywhere. I couldn’t take it to kindergarten, or to sleepovers. I had to learn to let go. If I didn’t, it was going to hold me back. I would be the weird kid at school with a stuffed animal, and by the time I was in middle school I probably wouldn’t be getting invited to sleepovers if I was still carrying around my stuffie. 

Some of you are using the scale like my Bugs Bunny. It’s your security blanket that makes you feel safe, that feels like an old friend (or frenemy is more like it), and you’re afraid to put it away and move forward without it. 

One time I did that mean older sister thing and hid my sister’s blanket, and then I went to a sleepover at my friend’s house, and that night she of course had a complete meltdown at bedtime. My parents searched everywhere to find it, and they couldn’t and she had a hard time sleeping that night…let’s just say I was in big trouble when I got home and pulled them out of the drawer I hid them in. I still feel bad about this, and I don’t think she listens to the podcast, but if she does – Mary I’m sorry about that. It was a jerk move. 

So rather than yanking the scale out of your hands, or telling you that you have to just give it up cold turkey, I want us to slow down and have a conversation about your attachment to the scale, and why it feels so protective.

Before we dive into our main topic for today, you know what time it is…We’ve got some Wellness Woo to talk about. 

Wellness Woo is the stuff that diet and wellness culture tells us we should do in the name of health, but it’s really based on pseudoscience, exaggerated claims, or just nonsense. 

Today’s Wellness Woo is: Red light therapy – s/o to Mary in IEME

a continuous beam of low-energy red light with a wavelength between 630 to 700 nanometers is used to regenerate cells and trigger blood flow.

Red light therapy is already widely medically accepted in its use in photodynamic therapy. In this therapy, low-power red laser light is used to activate a photosensitizer drug. The interaction creates a chemical reaction that destroys cells. It’s used to treat some skin conditions

Low-level laser therapies, which include red light therapy, are approved for aesthetic use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They are sometimes used to treat skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. But red-light therapy is also being studied as an option for pain relief, including pain caused by cancer treatment side effects like mouth sores – but there’s not enough evidence to support its use for htis yet.

Also called photobiomodulation, some dermatologists offer it to treat acne, signs of aging like wrinkles, hair loss, and other conditions. The red light that dermatologists offer is more powerful than that found in devices sold for at-home use.

To give their patients the best results, dermatologists typically recommend red light as a complementary therapy IN ADDITION TO other things. For example, when treating signs of aging, your dermatologist may add red light to a treatment plan that includes a medicated cream, microneedling, or a chemical peel. 

Some studies indicate that in general red-light LED devices can produce subtle to noticeable results on the face, when used to treat:

• Fine lines and wrinkles
• Dark spots
• Rough-feeling skin
• Discoloration like redness

In the short-term, it appears to be safe. Unlike ultraviolet (UV) light, which can cause skin cancer, research hasn’t found that red light can cause any type of cancer.

The most common side effects are usually mild mild. Some people develop temporary mild pain or irritated skin from red light therapy.

As for safety, you’ll see “FDA-cleared” on many red-light devices that you can buy. This means that the FDA considers that device to pose a low risk to the public.

Keep in mind that FDA cleared doesn’t tell you anything about how effective the device is. It means the device is considered safe.

When shopping for a red-light device, you may see a term like “FDA approved” or “FDA certified.” While these terms sound impressive, they have no meaning when used to describe a medical device. The FDA clears devices. It doesn’t approve or certify them.

In my research I found a warning letter sent from the FDA to a place in CO that was manufacturing and selling red light devices and marketing them for treating neuropathy and inflammation, and a whole laundry list of skin related claims – and the FDA did not mince their words when they said you need to stop promoting this for things that it’s not approved for, and the public health risk to people who are being led to believe that they can use this in place of actual medical treatment. 

There’s no scientific evidence to support red light therapy use in weight loss, cancer, cellulite removal or mental health conditions like depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Risks:

• Worsen an existing skin condition. A skin condition that makes you sensitive to light, such as lupus, can worsen when exposed to red light.
• Interact with medication you take or treatment you’re receiving. For example, if you’re taking medication that increases your skin’s sensitivity to light, red light may not be a recommended treatment.
• Eyes

Does it work? Maybe, for certain things. And it would probably be best to receive the therapy from your dermatologist’s office. A lot of the red light devices you can buy for home use probably don’t do what they are claiming to do.

Let’s also remember that aging is a normal part of being a human being.

If you have an example of Wellness Woo that you want to share, send it to me at rebuildingtrustwithyourbody@gmail.com. 

Ok, that’s enough of that. Moving on to today’s main topic…What to do if the scale feels like your safety blanket.

• Tell me if any of this sounds familiar:
  • Weighing “just to check” because you feel heavier or your pants are snug (or if you feel skinnier that day)
  • Promising yourself you won’t let the number ruin your day…but it always does
  • Feeling uneasy when you don’t know your weight
• Normalize the attachment
  • This isn’t vanity, weakness, or obsession
  • It makes sense given years of dieting, praise, criticism, and rules

What a “Safety Blanket” Actually Does (and Why the Scale Fits)

• What safety blankets provide (emotionally):
  • Predictability
  • Reassurance
  • A sense of control during uncertainty
• How the scale plays that role:
  • It tells you “where you stand”
  • It gives you rules for how to eat, move, or feel that day
  • It creates the illusion of certainty
• Important distinction:
  • The scale isn’t bad
  • The job you’ve assigned it is too big
  • It’s functioning as a coping tool – and it’s like your toxic ex-boyfriend…it’s not a good one

What the Scale Is Promising You (Even If It Never Delivers) 

Let’s think about what thoughts go through your head when you’re getting ready to get on the scale:

• “If I know my weight, I can prevent things from getting out of hand”
• “If the number is okay, I can relax”
• “If it’s not okay, I can fix it”
• “This keeps me safe from losing control / being judged / disappointing myself”
• “I have to get my weight down so that I’m healthier”

Name the pattern:

• Temporary relief → increased dependence
• Anxiety returns → need to check again
• Control feels like safety…until it becomes pressure

Here’s the thing: The scale doesn’t actually make you safer. It makes you more vigilant.

The Cost of Using the Scale as Emotional Insurance

Explore costs:

• Food decisions made from fear instead of listening to your actual body cues
• Mood determined by a number instead of lived experience
• You feel like crap about your body, and then you can’t find anything to wear to work or social events, and you either hide in all black, or baggy clothes, or you change outfits so many times that you’ve got a pile of clothes on the floor and you’re late to where you’re going
• Body trust never gets a chance to grow
• Intuitive eating feels “impossible” because surveillance is constant (and it’s sabotaging your attempt at doing IE because you’re never not under the watchful eye of the scale and the fear of weight gain)

Normalize resistance:

• OF COURSE it feels terrifying to imagine letting go
• If the scale has been your anchor, removing it can feel like floating in the middle of the ocean without a life jacket. I want to show you how to learn how to swim without being tethered to the anchor, and without needing a life jacket. You essentially need to learn how to swim on your own – and when you do that really intentionally, and when you think of the different principles of IE like different components of your swim strokes, you can see how you need to learn the skills  and practice them in order to learn how to swim without clinging onto the scale for dear life. 

This Isn’t About Ripping the Safety Blanket Away

• Clarify:
  • This is not an all-or-nothing ultimatum
  • You’re not failing if you still weigh yourself
• Introduce a gentler reframe:
  • The goal is expanding safety, not removing it
  • Learning to tolerate uncertainty with support
• Emphasize:
  • Courage ≠ fearlessness
  • Courage = staying present with fear

Small, Brave Experiments (Not Rules)

Offer 3–4 experiments (you choose one):

• Delay the weigh-in by a day and notice emotions, not weight
• Weigh yourself without letting it dictate behavior (no compensating)
• Ask: “What am I hoping the scale will tell me today?”
• Commit to an entire month without weighing yourself
• If you’re feeling really bold…Smash your scale!

Frame as curiosity..

Braver Than the Scale

Braver Than the Scale is a free 5-day challenge to help you stop letting your fear of weight gain sabotage your IE journey. During these 5 days I’m going to show you how to loosen your grip on the scale, start trusting your body more with food, sitting with the discomfort of not controlling your weight, and how to finally give IE a fair shot so it can work for you (because when you’re clinging on to the scale or your need to control your weight, it’s going to prevent you from being able to completely do IE the way it’s intended, and it’s not going to work for you) like it’s supposed to. We start Mon, 2/23, click the link in the show notes or go to nondietacademy.com/brave to grab your spot. 

Closing

• The scale became your safety blanket because you needed safety
• Wanting safety means you’re human
• And there are other ways to feel safe that don’t come with constant self-monitoring

You don’t have to be ready to let go of the scale. You just have to be willing to question whether it’s still keeping you safe.

In case nobody has told you today – you are worthy just as you are. We’ll talk again soon.

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