Confused? You're not alone!
There is a lot of confusion around terms like body positivity, body liberation, and fat activism. And a lot of confusion around what it means to take care of your body and yourself. This blog is dedicated to having real and honest conversations about bodies and food, dispelling diet culture myths, and shifting your mindset toward nourishment in all its forms.
Let's talk about what I mean by Body Love.
Some fat activists are moving away from the term “body love”, toward “body liberation”. Their point is to not be so focused on trying to love your appearance, and more to break free from any particular expectations of what bodies should be/do/look like. While I absolutely agree with that messaging (and in fact work with clients as a Body Liberation Coach), I still like to focus on body love. Not in the sense that we have to simply love all aspects of ourselves - that’s practically impossible. But that we love and nurture our body precisely because it is imperfect. I’m talking unconditional love. I’m talking the can’t-live-without kind of love (because, literally). I’m talking, in the words of Sonya Renee Taylor, radical self-love. None of these require us to be completely, 100% happy with every part of our body/selves 100% of the time.
When we centre the focus around appearance, I think we're missing the mark.
Do I want to change beauty standards, so that beauty isn't defined by body size (or any other physical characteristic)? Of course. Do we need to change those standards in order to feel worthy? Not at all. We don’t always have to be happy with what we see in the mirror. We don’t have to think we’re beautiful. We can love ourselves anyway.
Again, body love does NOT mean you must love your body, and all of its parts, all of the time, no questions asked. Quite the opposite actually. It’s completely normal to dislike parts of your body from time to time…or…all the time. I view body love as wanting to foster a supportive partnership with your body. It’s about recognizing you are on the journey that is life, with your body. You are one and the same.
You can think of this partnership like a romantic relationship. In a relationship, there are always good days and bad days. Wonderful times and tough times. Things you love about your partner and things you hate about your partner, and things that you both love AND hate about your partner. But as a whole package, you love them just as they are. You are choosing to be in a relationship with that person and are committed to a life with them, committed to working at it and caring for it. THAT’s love - not having the expectation that everything is always going to be perfect. It’s expecting that things will be imperfect and caring for it anyway. Because the outcome of loving and caring for a person is worth it, even if there are some flaws.
Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could have this relationship with our own body? I promise you, it’s possible!
I call myself the “Body Love Dietitian” because I help you do just that. I can help support you on your body love journey: disrupting conventional beliefs of how you “should” look and eat, embracing your perfectly imperfect self, and fostering a loving relationship with your body. You are not alone!
I'd love to chat more, click here to book a FREE discovery call. And subscribe to my Love Letters e-newsletter (at the bottom of this page) for more tips, resources, and support.
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