I’m pretty sure the Body-Positive scene wasn’t started to shame people for wanting to lose weight. I think the overwhelmingly positive message behind the movement is that your body is no-body’s business but your own. And if you are cool with it, that should be cool with everyone else too. Unfortunately, many have turned this righteous cause into an excuse to shame people who aren’t cool with their bodies.
I’m only going to say this once, and I want you to read it aloud:
It’s OK to want to lose weight.
There is nothing “positive” about telling people their goals to better themselves, their desire for vital health, are not valid. There’s no pretending that shaming someone for wanting to change their body isn’t akin to shaming someone for not being able to.
You have the right to be whoever you want to be.
For those who genuinely ARE healthy at any size, or those who DON’T deeply desire to change their shape, Body-Positivity is an unparalleled blessing regardless of its shortcomings. For those looking to blame others, cast doubt about science or judge & shame people “back” for the ill treatment they’ve received, Body-Positivity can be a detrimental curse.
Health Positive Truth vs. Body Positive Myth
If you remember from last week, I talked a bit about people who do harm to our perspectives and a syndrome they suffer from called “Reality IQ Deficiency”. The Body-Positive & Health at Every Size movements, although beautiful and totally aligned with health if incorporated holistically, are not immune to those suffering with RIQ-D.
To be clear, I fully support both Body Posi & HAES movements. I’ve also been at times ashamed to teach healthy, holistic weight loss because of the RIQ-D commentary that has come from groups and individuals supposedly speaking on behalf of this anti-shame momentum.
This bone I pick is with the shaming, and not with either — anti-shame — movement. Because not only is shame terrible for our mental health:
When a person suffering from RIQ-D wields a social-justice movement as a weapon against Reality, creating RIQ – divots in others, the resulting damage to an Ideal Body Nature Mindset can be especially disheartening.
Most Popular RIQ-D Myths about Weight Loss debunked
Here’s how to separate the REAL Body-Positive/Health-Positive triumphs from the Reality-Deficient jabs.
1. Genetics are to Blame for Obesity
Truth: Epigenetics & the Mind-Body Connection are the core culprits in weight gain & weight loss.
While discrimination against anyone for the way they look is not OK, fat-shaming is not parallel to racial/gender discrimination for the overwhelming majority of people. Besides that, this messaging permanently victimizes people who could be empowered to change their circumstances if they were given the right info!
The truth is, what we once believed to be genetics — that our body-fat setpoint was decided at birth — is actually epigenetics — a gene vs. environment dynamic, changing, relationship. The mind-body connection is proving far more integral to weight loss than any other aspect.
- Stress hormone “cortisol” tells body to store fat. Hormones start in the mind.
- Our fight or flight responses (nervous system response to stress) dictate digestion.
- The digestive system has a nervous system (your gut has a mind & feelings).
- This nervous system sets the environment in your gut, hence microbiota potential.
- The epigenetic marker FTO = more ghrelin (hunger hormone) but ghrelin is also produced by nervous system
- Adiponectin (fat burning hormone) increased by 20% from 1 yr of yoga.
2. You can be Healthy at Every Size
Truth: Weight is not a direct indication of health, but…
It’s important on a health journey, first and foremost, to make contact with Base Reality (RIQ 0). That is a reflection of reality that most closely resembles what we can all agree is REAL.
The truth is, being overweight is a major indicator of health problems. HAES was founded to provide health help to people regardless of their size.
Dr. Deb Burgard, one of the founders of the HAES model says the HAES acronym is useful, but “it should really be ‘health for all sizes’. It’s saying that people deserve an environment and culture that supports their health, regardless of their size.”
3. Thin = Starving/ Photoshop
Truth: Not many supermodels even “diet”. Eating fewer calories is correlated with longevity — the opposite of starvation.
Dieting is terrible for you. Supermodels — the butt of many-a-starvation accusations for their abnormal super-lithe figures — of course, know this. They are the epitome of what Feminism calls “unattainable body standards”. For most women, a supermodel’s physique is not realistic.
They are discovered looking the way that they do and would not be supermodels if their bodies were average. Photoshopping aside, these women are surreal in the flesh, and that’s why they have full-time jobs taking care of their bodies.
The truth is, they take very good care of themselves and normally eat a little less/a little more healthily than a non-professional would. This is healthy. Simply eating fewer calories is one of the only longevity markers and it feels way better in general.
There are outliers who develop eating disorders in every area where intense focus is put on body image (ballerinas, models, etc.) but the majority of these svelte creatures don’t even DIET.
4. Overweight is a Body’s Wish
Truth: Animals, children, and our past illustrate a completely different narrative.
There’s so much rhetoric out there that speaks of this evolutionary story where our metabolism has been shaped to pack on pounds during the feast to make way for the energy inevitably needed during the famine. The truth is made a little more evident when you examine Base Reality, RIQ 0, to identify what is REALly happening.
The truth is, obesity has only been a collective issue since the 1990’s…
There is no war with yourself that you need to wage to lose weight. Your body is not against you. Your metabolism is not trying to make you fat. You have an Ideal Body Composition unique to you and your Ideal Body Nature is all you need to get there.
