Recently, Penn and I saw a friend we hadn’t seen in a while who noticeably lost a bunch of weight. Penn really wanted to compliment them on it (they looked happy and healthy) but he wasn’t sure so he said nothing. (And if you know Penn, you know how much self-control that took.)
I had a similar situation with a friend a long time ago, I congratulated her for noticeably losing weight. She lost 10 pounds and in our conversation I found out she didn’t want to lose it at all. She had been so busy in that season of her life, she wasn’t taking care of herself like she wanted.
The reality is, we are not the size of our body. So why do we tie our self-worth to it? Why do we feel we need to make it part of our conversations?
Body Positivity vs. Body Neutrality
This week, we had expert Anne Poirier, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and Eating Disorder Specialist and owner of Shaping Perspectives, on our podcast to discuss body neutrality. In light of a recent blog post I wrote, we discussed the body positivity movement and while I LOVE IT, I don’t always feel genuinely on-board.
“Body Neutrality is seeing your body as the vessel or vehicle that you move through your life with,” explained Anne. “Body Positivity is a good movement, but we don’t always love our bodies and that’s ok.” We discussed how Body Neutrality is a resting place in the middle that allows us to appreciate our bodies and not feel negative about it.
If you have a hard time appreciating your body, Anne suggested you start with your senses: sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. Think of how your arms get to hug your friends and family, and your ears get to hear laughter. Doing this exercise starts to give gratitude for the bodies that we have.
Nothing To Do With Your Size
Another great exercise Anne did with us on the podcast further illustrated that our bodies aren’t what people love about us. Close your eyes, think of two people you love to be around. Think of their traits and qualities of why you like to hang around them. Does anything on that list have anything to do with the size of their body?
Next, why do people like to hang around you? What would someone say your best qualities are? Does that have anything to do with the size of your body? The answer is always no.
We are not the size of our body. This body is the vehicle we get to express joy, friendship, and endurance for hard times. Today, I want you to try to think of one reason why you are grateful for your body.
You can hear the rest of our podcast including how to model body neutrality for our kids below. Happy listening.
