This is the story of when an ultra body positive feminist (me) became a health coach:
How do you go from following/adoring plus sized models on instagram to explosively celebrating every pound one of your teammates losses?
How do you go from fantasizing about eating a cheeseburger with animal style fries and a milkshake to celebrating people for choosing not to eat the very same thing?!
How do you go from shaming stores that sell one-size-fits all clothing to screaming of excitement when someone goes down a pant size?
As the aforementioned UBPF, becoming a health coach that celebrates weight loss has been difficult for me to reconcile. My worldview has definitely changed in the past 6.5 months but for the better I would like to hope. Before I decided to take on this journey, I scoffed at people who dieted just to lose weight; skinny wasn’t an important thing to be (it’s still not). I hated on people who quoted things such as the infamous Kate Moss line”Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” ( I still really hate this quote btw). I was a firm believer that if you’re fat it was fine as long as you were happy.
My views now are mostly similar. Instead of changing them entirely, I’ve merely added to them. Sure, I want everyone to be happy but I also want everyone to be healthy. Before experiencing my own transformation, I had heard many body shamers shout this line:”We just want you to be healthy (aka skinny).” I know they meant skinny because they had never said this to a smaller person and when I brought up that point to them it was always seen an afterthought “Well, we want skinny people to be healthy too.”. Let me be clear by saying skinny is not equal to healthy; likewise, fat doesn’t equal unhealthy.YOU CANNOT TELL SOMEONES HEALTH OR ACTIVITY LEVEL BY JUST LOOKING AT THEM. BMI though a reliable indicator (at times) is not the be-all-end-all of health measurements. Many of the people I deem to be unhealthy (over-eating sugary, fast foods and not exercising) are some of the skinniest. Incase you didn’t get it the first time: you can not judge someones health just by looking at them.
My goal is to encourage people to be healthy no matter their size. I am not saying this from a place of superiority. I used to eat like complete garbage. Loading myself with sugar and calories from Starbucks as a precursor to my “real breakfast” then finding an excuse to eat half a bag of cookies later in the day because I had maybe-probably walked a lot that day. I laughed at the idea of me exercising. I thought it was a funny joke to not care about my eating or exercise habits. This is what I realized I do not stand for. If you love yourself, then love yourself enough to nourish your body and if you’re not happy change something.
Is it really about the weight?
No.
It’s about actively choosing to become the best and healthiest version of yourself.
It’s about becoming who you’ve decided you want to be.
I celebrate personal victories that come in the form of weightloss, pant-size, and self-control but I do not worship skinny. I worship hard work. I worship working towards your goals and I worship hitting them. I do not hate fat. I hate complacency. I hate excuses. I hate self-imposed limitations.
*Disclaimer: I still think and believe people of all shapes and sizes are beyond beautiful and I still hate Brandy Melville and their one-size-fits-all-bull-crap policy.
- Anna Goes Adventuring - 