You move your body. You make sure to get up off your butt each day and do something. You walk, run, lift, bike, swim in the lake or maybe your movement is simply vacuuming the house. You also fuel yourself adequately. You eat when you are hungry. You balance out your macronutrients (fats, carbs, proteins) with micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). You eat whole foods MOST of the time but you definitely enjoy pizza and happy hour with your BFFs because it’s good for the soul. You feel happy and have energy. You get sound sleep each night and your skin is glowing. All your body functions as it should; digestive, heart, blood pressure etc.
…But you can’t be “healthy” because you’re a size 14. *cue the eye roll*
We live in a society driven by “diet culture”. A society that thrives off of the vulnerabilities that come with being human. Left and right there are ads for lip injections, keto approved snacks, and glute guides. So often restricting food and manipulating our bodies to attain society’s ideal is romanticized as “bettering yourself” or being “disciplined”.
So you start to go to the gym more and more. You start to eat less and less but you can’t seem to hold the weight off. It’s so easy to try and attain “health” with intentions that aren’t stemming from love and care for yourself but rather self hatred and guilt.
You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again. MINDSET IS EVERYTHING. There is nothing wrong with your body, there is something wrong with your mindset. The mindset that smaller is “healthier” or “better”. The mindset that you control your weight. The mindset that your weight defines the level of “fit” or “healthiness”.
Why manipulate your perfectly happy and healthy size 14 body into being a size 00? Your body knows what weight it is most comfortable and happy at. If you trust in your body, listen to your body, and get out of it’s way it’ll settle into that happy healthy weight.
Your body will naturally crave and know what foods it needs and wants in order to feel and perform at it’s best. Your body will give you extra energy to add movement when movement is no longer a punishment.Healthy doesn’t look the same on everyone. Some people are healthy as a size 2 but some are healthy as a size 16.
It’s scary to let your body do it’s thing, but once you do you’ll realize that your body is powerful and smart. Focus on getting good sleep and lots of it. Focus on movement driven by enjoyment not guilt, weight loss, or intrusive thoughts. Focus on prioritizing your mental health. Stop manipulating “calories”. Stop trying to attain “health” by restriction instead of self care. Stop punishing your body because it doesn’t look like the ones on social media, movies, or the ones your friends have.
Healthy is not a body type.
Learn it, live it, accept it, and maybe just maybe one day you’ll even finally love it.
Written by Mak Foss