To find out how we got here, we've got to go into the past...

Larger bodies were deemed 'uncivilized' long before the medical and scientific communities began to label them as a health risk.

The correlation of weight and health started with the growth of the slave trade, European philosophers began cataloging physical traits they saw in different societies.  In an attempt to create some sort of 'evolutionary hierarchy', they labeled fatness as a marker for 'savagery' because it appeared more often in people of color, while thinness appeared more often in white people, men, and aristocrats.  Thus began the racist, classist, and sexist roots of weight stigma. 

Doctors, up until early 19th century, had seen weight gain as a natural process of aging.  But feeling increasing pressure from their patients who decided they needed to lose weight, and an emerging insurance business that started the use of the BMI scale (created by an ASTRONOMER almost 200 years ago) to...

Being able to take a walk by myself- without my dogs- took up way too many sessions with my therapist.

How could I justify walking without one- or several- of my 4 leggers, who clearly need one too?

Wow did I carry (and still do, to a lesser degree) a lot of shame about how hard this was for me.

The most embarrassing part being that I am WELL VERSED in knowing how important taking time for yourself is- it’s a common conversation I have with my clients.

But no how matter how much awareness I have, my lived experience reflects being a caretaker since I was a kid. 

Holding space for a parent in pain and keeping my own close to my chest in an attempt to not make things worse for anyone else.

It’s my default mode. 

And.

It doesn’t serve me at all.

When it comes to my loved ones, I go through periods of not asking for help, putting myself and my needs last, getting to a breaking point, and only THEN making different choices that support my physical and mental...

Let's talk about some of the 'health hacks' you do or have heard about from your trusted fitness professionals (although not this one ;)

 You may know by now that I spent a good decade deep in Eating Disorders...

And because I spent years throwing up or severely restricting- I thought that was THE definition of disordered eating.

 Maybe you do too.

 Or, maybe you already know what took me a long while to recognize: that distorted eating habits can be extremely destructive, and they don't have to involve binging, purging, and starvation.

 Some examples pulled straight from my past experiences- and maybe your current ones…

•  Filling yourself up with drinks to subdue hunger- like bubbly waters, coffee, tea, wine (the last one being recommended by a popular fit pro) 
•  Putting off breakfast as long as possible
•  Labeling a ‘healthy’ food as a free for all.  Like eating all the baby carrots you want (while also tuning out...

Or is it because we live in a society that is deeply rooted in anti-fat bias? A post for another day…

I’ve said it before and you know I’ll say it again: weight loss (or gain) is not a behavior, it is an outcome. For a large variety of reasons- that is ALSO for another day.

So often, weighing less is given credit for a whole lot of things it shouldn’t be given- like our health, our importance in society, our happiness.

So before you feel a way after hearing someone’s ‘successful’ weight loss story (reminder that you have no idea how they really achieved said weight loss), consider that there are things you can do that will make you feel better too.

Get more sleep. Eat nutrient dense foods and get exercise if you have the access and privilege. Get outside more. Connect with friends. See a therapist.

And remember that weight loss doesn’t have to be a part of that equation in order for you to feel better.