Is “Transformation Tuesday” just fat-shaming?

After scrolling through my IG feed and seeing one too many before and after photos, captioned with “look how horrible I used to look?”, I am calling it what it is – “fat-shaming”. Transformation Tuesday photos celebrate our “new self”, but at the cost of saying that our “old self” was lacking, unworthy, stupid, lazy, unmotivated etc.

I am tired of the negative narrative around health and fitness. It denotes that our “old self” was “bad” somehow, just because we didn’t have the motivation or knowledge that our “new self” has. Maybe we were struggling with anxiety or depression, maybe we didn’t have a great health coach or family support, maybe we couldn’t afford healthy foods, maybe our hormones were out of whack. There can be a million reasons why someone is struggling with “weight”!

I think we should move to celebrating where we are at in our health journey and finding positive forms of motivation (like wanting to reduce inflammation, increase mobility and strength etc.). The focus on putting our “old self” down is not body positive, it is fat-shaming.

Here are a few ways that I am reaching to be more body positive:

1. Removing or “unfollowing” accounts from my feed that focus on a negative body narrative. The non-stop shots of abs and before and after photos is not helping me to feel good. And, in order to accomplish my health and fitness goals, I need to feel good about myself and positive about where I am at and where I am going;
2. Showing my progress in a positive way – posting photos of me “walking the walk” by being active or putting together a healthy meal or snack that keep myself motivated (while not triggering myself or others).
3. Being kind to myself if/when I slip. Just focus on getting back to the healthy routine of fitness and eating well for energy and health.

If you want to hear more on this topic – check out Episode 30 of the Learning to Slay the Beasts Podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, TuneIn and Podbean.

Talking Body Image In the Time Of Coronavirus

Since my move to stop wearing make up to owning my body in a bikini on my winter vacation and even writing a short story on my battle with obesity, body image has been on my mind a lot.

But then the coronavirus hit and it made me question the relevance of wondering and pondering body image. It made me think everything was minor.

Pre-virus, I listened to Episode 82 of the Rise Together podcast where Rachel Hollis interviews her friend Amy Porterfield about her struggles with her weight. They talk about Amy attending Weight Watchers at age 8 and her constant quest to meet a ‘goal weight’. They talk about Amy overcompensating with her perfect hair and high heels to be a woman in spite of her weight. They talk about Amy always questing to be ‘small’.

It all hit hard for me. From the Weight Watchers experience to the quest to be ‘small’. It’s all my story as well. I attended Weight Watchers at age 13 and have always muted myself to appear ‘quiet’ and ‘small’ which I see as more feminine.

I had two significant weight loss journeys, one in high school where I lost about 80 lbs but never hit my goal weight. Another after my daughter was born where I lost 75 lbs. Though the second time I hit my size and weight goal, I never felt the surge in self esteem and still continued to fight my demons of ‘not enough’. I still struggled with my body image and truly being myself and taking up the space that I deserved.

My goal now is a strong mom bod. Allowing myself the imperfections that motherhood brings but being strong enough to play sports with my kids and inspire activity in them and others. My goal is to eat healthfully, not be constantly dieting. My goal is to raise a daughter without body image issues.

I am focussing on good habits like eating whole foods, moving my body daily, being mentally strong and drinking lots of water. I am also not weighing myself and defining myself by my clothes size.

Why is this still relevant in the time of the coronavirus? Because more than ever women need to be strong, resilient, energetic and vibrant. That is pretty hard to do if you haven’t built muscle, strengthened your cardio and your mind! It is also hard to do if you are starving in order to fit into a certain pair of jeans.

When my priorities are challenged by working at home, losing opportunities, and homeschooling my kids, my weight and size feel less relevant, including the idea of a ‘goal weight’! It is time to focus on real priorities like eating well, moving our bodies, sleeping and loving each other.