About two years ago, I was working out pretty consistently. I lost weight, but I didn’t like how I felt and it scared me. I thought, Oh, I want to inspect this. What is this about? I was confused, because we’re taught as women to want to be thinner. I wondered if something was wrong with me. Then a little voice crept in my head and said, Who’s going to protect you? If you don’t have this fat, who’s going to protect you? There is a folktale called “Skeleton Woman,” recounted in Women Who Run with the Wolves by a psychologist named Clarissa Pinkola Estés. The “Skeleton Woman” refers to the inner part of a woman that carries around shame for feeling ugly or not good enough. I told my therapist I related to this concept. Her advice was, “Let’s put some flesh on those bones.” I really liked that. It made me feel like this fat that I was perceiving as self protection wasn’t a flaw that I needed to shed, but rather a healthy comfort that was healing for me psychologically and physically.