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In part 1 we looked at the first half of an article that tries to re-define body positivity and cast weight-neutrality as a dangerous extreme. Today we’ll look at the second half of the article, as well as how this might have happened.
The quotes that are inset and in italics are from the piece itself and may contain anti-fat language and falsehoods, you can skip them and still get the gist of the piece.
Body positivity is about promoting self-acceptance and self-love regardless of body size or shape. It's about recognizing that all bodies are valuable and deserving of respect and dignity.
In addition, it's important to acknowledge that ob*sity, like other health conditions, can have negative impacts on health. Ignoring or downplaying these risks can be harmful. Therefore, promoting body positivity should not mean denying or ignoring the potential health consequences of ob*sity.
This would only be accurate if the entire second paragraph was deleted. First of all, again, there is no obligation to prioritize health in order to see our bodies as valuable and deserving of respect.
If you read carefully you’ll see that, despite their claims otherwise, the second paragraph negates the first. What they are ludicrously trying to claim is that we should not be allowed to recognize that “all bodies are valuable and deserving of respect and dignity” unless we also fully endorse the idea that some bodies are wrong and bad based on their size.
This is how principles that people have been working on for decades (since before I was born) get co-opted to serve diet culture and weight stigma. Loosely translated this means “Don’t love yourself enough that you won’t risk your life/quality of life on the weight loss interventions we sell that have a 100 year track record of abject failure.”
Beyond which, the conceptualization of “ob*sity” as a disease is seriously questionable and the blaming of negative health impacts on it can only be done by pretending that weight stigma, weight cycling, and healthcare inequalities don’t exist for higher weight people.
Consider adopting a more holistic approach to health that encompasses physical, mental and emotional well-being. So, how do you find harmony amidst these extremes? It starts with shifting your mindset from one of comparison and judgment to one of compassion and self-care. Instead of fixating on how your body looks compared to others, focus on how it feels and what it can do. Celebrate your body for its strength, resilience and capacity for growth and prioritize nourishing yourself with wholesome foods, staying active in ways that bring you joy, and practicing self-care rituals that honor your body and mind.
Note that none of the things above say anything about weight. Nor is there any research that suggests that any of this will lead to long-term, significant weight loss. This is the crux of their article – they have to pretend that weight-neutrality is an “extreme” in order to co-opt the concepts of it, while still marketing weight stigma and weight loss.
Walking Toward the Harmonious Middle
Navigating toward the midpoint between weight-centric and weight-neutrality is a challenge and that journey will look different for each individual. Each person will have their own “leanings” and perspectives on how they hope to arrive at whatever their goals may be. That is okay.
I want to point out that, as someone with able-bodied privilege, I’ve been educated that language like that in the title “walking toward…” is ableist (making the assumption that everyone can/does walk.) This is a mistake that I have also made in the past.
The problem here is that the entire premise of the article is completely flawed. There is no midpoint between weight-centric and weight-neutral because they aren’t two ends of a spectrum, they are mutually exclusive paradigms. At their most basic, weight centric means a focus on weight as a measure of health and body size manipulation as a path to health (that’s what they are suggesting here with their pathologizing of body size and anti-ob*sity language). Weight-neutral means that the diversity of body sizes is respected and health is supported directly, rather than using body size to define health or body size manipulation as a path to health.
I do want to acknowledge that this…re-imagining of the concepts of weight focus vs weight neutral may actually be an indication that two deeply misinformed people pitched an article to people who also don’t have an understanding of the concepts involved, and they, perhaps, sent it to an editor who was similarly unaware.
It could also be due to purposeful miseducation - given that this sounds a lot like a session created by the “Ob*sity Action Coalition” which is Novo Nordisk’s astroturf organization that is doing their dirty work of co-opting actual anti-weight stigma and body acceptance work to sell weight loss. So I wonder if this article is (intentionally or accidentally) part of a pattern of helping people paradigm straddle to help keep the weight loss industry gravy train on the tracks.
As I said, ACE has made a bit of progress in this area, perhaps the greatest example being that they added a specialist certificate on size inclusive fitness by Louise Green. I took the course and it is excellent. So someone at ACE should have known better than… this. So what this may also be is paradigm straddling on the part of ACE or, worse, giving some lip service to a weight-neutral health perspective while still clinging to the failed weight-loss model that many of their members (and scientific advisory panelists) are still working from.
Finally, they created a little acronym:
As your journey begins (or continues), this is an invitation to consider the following steps as you calibrate your compass, using the acronym I.N.S.P.I.R.E.
I = Ignore Extremes: Think about your “why” and try to find compassionate, important and relevant reasons for embracing those behaviors that feel best.
N = No single right answer: What is right for your partner, colleague or neighbor is not necessarily right for you.
S = Set boundaries: Limit exposure to media and social media content that perpetuates unrealistic beauty standards or prompts negative thoughts. Instead, surround yourself with supportive friends, family members and communities that celebrate diversity and promote body positivity.
P = Practice self-compassion: Take time to reflect on your thoughts and feelings about your body. Notice any negative self-talk or harmful beliefs that arise. Then, challenge unrealistic beauty standards by questioning where these standards come from and how they impact your self-perception. Finally, talk to yourself like you would a friend!
I = Illuminate your plate: Prioritize nourishing foods that fuel your body and support your overall well-being. Aim for a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats. Also, listen to your body's hunger and fullness cues. Eat mindfully, savoring each bite, and stop when you're satisfied.
R = Reach out for help: If you're struggling with body image issues or disordered eating behaviors, consider seeking support from a therapist, counselor or healthcare professional. You may also opt to work with a certified health coach, registered dietitian or exercise professional who can provide personalized guidance and support on your journey toward balanced health and well-being.
E = Enjoy movement: Find physical activities that you enjoy and that make you feel good. Whether it's dancing, hiking, yoga, swimming or any of the countless other ways to move your body, choose activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. Shift your mindset from thinking of exercise as a means to change your body to considering exercise as a way to honor and care for your body.
Note, again, that nothing they’ve mentioned here says anything about weight or weight loss, and there is no evidence to suggest that any of their acronymic suggestions will create significant long-term weight loss. These exact concepts come from weight-neutral interventions. So literally the only reason to claim that a “balance” needs to be struck is to co-opt weight-neutral health concepts while clinging to the pathologizing of higher-weight bodies. As I’ve written about before, I think we need to be careful about putting too much focus on joyful movement.
Final Thoughts
Above all, finding harmony in your relationship with your body requires kindness, patience and self-compassion. It's a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance that unfolds over time. Together, let's challenge both extremes of this discussion and strive to create a world where each unique approach to self-care is honored because it is ours alone.
So, according to them, we should have kindness, patience, self-compassion, and honor our unique approach to self care, unless we’re fat* because then we must buy into the suspect claims that our bodies should be pathologized and medicalized due to their size, and that wanting be support our health directly (aka weight-neutral health) is a dangerous extreme position. Yikes.
This might be a good time to point out that both of the authors are very thin women, one works for an app that includes weight loss testimonials while the other used to work for Weight Watchers “science team” and teaches workshops about weight loss.
It’s not surprising that two people who are deep in the weight-centric paradigm would, intentionally or accidentally, try to re-define the concept of weight-neutral health as some sort of radical idea so that they can co-opt its principles while still shilling anti-ob*sity rhetoric. They may very well be well-meaning and this may be a matter of paradigm entrenchment, maybe it’s the dangerous “love the sinner, hate the sin” approach, but none of that would erase the harm of positioning an evidence-based approach to health as “extreme” whilst spouting anti-fat claims. Maybe they didn’t mean to do any harm, but impact is greater than intent and harm as been done.
If you are looking for accurate information about body positivity and weight-neutral fitness I highly recommend that Body Positive Fitness Alliance, also canfitpro has a list of resources here (though I have not vetted all of them so please take care).
My July monthly online workshop is “The Weight Loss Industry and Healthcare – A Dangerous Liaison” We’ll look at problematic entanglements and how they impact healthcare providers and higher-weight patients. As always there is a pay-what-you-can-afford option so that money isn’t a barrier, and all registrants get a link to the video. You can find details and register here.
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More Research
For a full bank of research, check out https://haeshealthsheets.com/resources/
*Note on language: I use “fat” as a neutral descriptor as used by the fat activist community, I use “ob*se” and “overw*ight” to acknowledge that these are terms that were created to medicalize and pathologize fat bodies, with roots in racism and specifically anti-Blackness. Please read Sabrina Strings: Fearing the Black Body – the Racial Origins of Fat Phobia and Da’Shaun Harrison: Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness for more on this.
Thank you for this breakdown. Shit like this reminds me that I am not welcome in fitness spaces, but seeing breakdowns like yours reminds me that there are a few beacons of light here and there.
I’m gonna “set boundaries” and keep doing my own thing, regardless of what these ignorant haters spew. lol sigh.
Canfitpro is confusing. On the one hand, they provide a great resource list. On the other hand, there's a focus on weight loss throughout the site, most blatantly of course being this: https://www.canfitpro.com/healthy-eating-weight-loss-coach/