Weight Loss in the Time of Body Positivity
Today is Sarah Sweat’s 2 month birthday! And before you ask; of course I’m going to be celebrating every month until this blog is a year old. They’re like babies - every month is a new milestone until you tackle that bigger one.
For this auspicious day, I wanted to talk about something that’s very important to me: body positivity.
If you’ve been with me through the beginning; you know that my Instagram started out as just an accountability page. I had gained a good amount of weight, and had finally had enough and decided I had to do something about it. For me, having a social media page that held me accountable for the changes I was trying to make was necessary. I needed that extra boost to hold me to the new promises I had made to myself.
When I started out on my weight loss journey I was a little scared to start posting pictures of myself. Not because I didn’t like the way I looked (which, I’ll be honest, I didn’t) - but because I was nervous of the comparison trap. I didn’t want others who were a different size than me thinking that I ‘disapproved’ or ‘didn’t like’ their bodies because I wasn’t a fan of the shape I was in. I grew up in the 90s & early aughts where thin was everything and fat shaming was rampant; and the last thing I wanted was for others to think I was promoting fatphobia or diet culture. I am very against these things, as I’ve been a victim of them and I know the harm it can do to your mental, emotional, and physical health. I wanted to make sure my platform was a place where my road to losing weight was about me and only me. I wanted it to be clear that my body and what I was choosing to do with it could not be interpreted as a comment on anyone else’s. It’s me doing what’s right for me; and that’s a pig part of body positivity!
For those of you who are unaware of this movement (which is well overdue), body positivity is the act of celebrating all bodies, of all shapes, colors, and functionalities. Because everybody and every body deserves to be loved and celebrated!
It’s important for your own mental health to recognize that you are a worthy, amazing person.
For such a long time, society has attempted to dictate a narrow definition of what is considered beautiful.
I’m here to remind you that YOU are beautiful; society’s outdated narrow definition be damned.
Look at Lizzo. She is thicc and beautiful and fit and most importantly: loves herself.
If you love and are taking care of yourself - that’s all that matters. Who cares what size you are?!
However - you can still want to lose weight in the era of recognizing we need to be body positive.
You can still love yourself and want to make changes; from losing inches, to gaining muscle tone, to coloring your hair.
For me, the kick start to changing my lifestyle was that I was uncomfortable in my body. I didn’t love what I looked like, and my mental health was suffering because of it. Including more fitness, adopting a healthier diet, and developing a better relationship with food was integral to my happiness and self love.
The most important thing is that you love yourself.
You’re only given one body,
And you were born to do so much more than only focus on losing weight.
xoxo,
Sarah
