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...

Let's say someone in your family is working really hard to develop healthy habits.  They've started exercising, they've been adding more vegetables to their diet, they've created more boundaries in their lives to support their mental health.

And they've lost weight.

Whether that weight loss was intentional- or a product of less stress, moving more, less calorie intake- here's what we've known about weight loss.

Here's one weight loss study of MANY  that show that the long term success rate of weight loss is low.  2 years later many will regain, 5 years most will regain all if not more than what they weighed in the beginning.

Even if you've never gone through a 'weight loss transformation' yourself, I bet you can imagine how awful it would feel to get praise and validation on your health journey in terms of how your body looks, only to regain that weight back down the line.

In addition, you never really know how someone lost that weight- no matter what they decide...

I've worked with thousands of clients over the years, and I can safely say that most of them aren't eating enough.

So what does that look like?  Ask yourself this...

What's missing?

Is it a certain MACRONUTRIENT?

Carbs, Protein, Fats?

Those are the big ones that are often left out of diet plans.

Is it QUANTITY?

Are you stopping yourself from eating to fullness?

Are you following serving guidelines on a package, or according to a calorie limit?

Is it SATISFACTION?

Are you eating 'healthified' versions of your favorite food- sometimes in excess of fullness- and still not feeling satisfied?

Are you choking down dry toast and avoiding pasta made from flour at all costs?

If you think following 'healthy' food rules is working, consider how much time you spend thinking about food OUTSIDE of your actual meal times.

And that maybe you're focusing on the wrong things.

Because when you eat according to what your body needs, your brain gets to think about other...

An outcome that can happen for a million different reasons.

Some of the most common ones?

-Death

-Divorce

-Cancer

-Stress

-Autoimmune Disorders

-Undernourishment (purposeful or not)

-Depression

Less common reasons for weight loss:

-Seeing a therapist

-Increasing your vegetable intake

-Exercising more

-Getting more sleep

Healing your disordered eating

Research has continually proven there is no safe, sustainable way to lose weight.  And those that DO lose weight intentionally, 80% plus will regain that weight and more within 2 years.

And that lose/gain cycle is more harmful to a person’s health- everything from an increase in heart disease to a higher mortality rate overall- than just staying the same weight.

If you're privileged enough to do so, you can change your habits to improve your health- like the ones listed above.

But weight loss?

Not a healthy habit you can create.

And more often than not, it's an outcome you have no control over.

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.