Femme Plus
T
his is a question
that I (along with
many other coaches
and professionals in
the field of diet, nu-
trition, exercise and
mental health) am
asked by countless
clients.
“Will I lose weight
when I learn to love
my body?”
“I want to eat intuitive-
ly, but I also know that
I need to lose weight -
how can I do this?”
“But if I’m overweight,
surely I can’t be
healthy at all?”
And I get it. I do.
Culturally, we’re
indoctrinated from
early childhood into
the ideas that thinner
bodies are better (sex-
ier, prettier, smarter,
healthier, more wor-
thy) than fatter bodies
almost explicitly, that
being “overweight”
(more on why I’ve
put this in quotation
marks below) means
that we’re unhealthy
and that weight loss is
something that should
and can be undertaken
by the masses.
To be living in a large/
big/curvy/plus sized/
fat body - or how-
ever else you choose
to refer to it - in this
society is to be faced
with the predominant
idea from a lot of folks
that your body is bad,
broken or not func-
tioning. Already, we’re setting
a dichotomy of good
vs bad.
Today, we’re going to
delve into why that oc-
curs as well as propos-
ing an alternative way
of thinking. We’ll do
this step by step, start- “Oh, you look so skin-
ny!”
Think about this
glamorization and how
weight loss is often
viewed as a compli-
ment.
Or, after noticing
someone’s weight
loss, “Oh, you look so
Realistically, we know that not
all thin people are healthy -
thin bodies still can contract
diseases, indulge in problem-
atic or harmful habits and can
still have genetic predisposi-
tions outside of their control.
ing at the beginning.
healthy!”
Let’s focus on that idea
of health for a mo-
ment.
Let’s look at the act
of losing weight. It’s
glamourized in our
society from friends,
family, peers, and
celebrities. Those who
can go from fat to thin
are seen as success
stories, and those who
go from thin to fat are
seen as having failed.
Notice carefully the
emphasis on words…
“You look so healthy”...
we see the assumptions
being made around the
aesthetic of health.
Realistically, we know
that not all thin people
are healthy - thin bod-
ies still can contract
diseases, indu lge in
problematic or harm-
ful habits and can still
have genetic predispo-
sitions outside of their
control.
But, when a person
loses weight, we make
the assumption that
their decreased mass
implies greater health.
Now, add to that the
$64 billion per year
diet industry (includ-
ing diet plan sub-
scriptions like Weight
Watchers, detox teas,
pills, supplements,
prescription appetite
suppressants.
The saturation of me-
dia advertising for the
weight loss industry
is so prevalent, and
most of us can name
at least 2-5 weight loss
brands off the top of
our heads.
Magazine headlines
tell us “Lose 5,10,15kg
NOW!”
Buzzfeed articles pre-
scribe home workout
moves for ‘sexy, slim
arms.’
Fashion retailers tell
us, “There’s simply
no demand for larger
clothes and we can’t
make them!” (which,
by the way, is a total
fabrication).
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