BODY-POSITIVE HEALTH & FITNESS

It's some shit that everyone thinks they can understand based on vibes but science just doesn't work that way. Real scientists have proved time and time again that it doesn't work how people assume. Many medical conditions where it's assumed weight is a "cause", something to blame the patient for, it's often actually a symptom.

Body size is based on so many individual possibilities. genetics, upbringing, wealth, what type of food you eat, what type of work you do, where you live, etc etc etc. it is impossible to control for all of these.

I was a child born to fat, impoverished, labourer parents, and I grew up doing farm labour, gaining muscle - I will never ever be thin. It's just how my body developed. And no matter how much weight I were to hypothetically lose, doctors would still push me to lose more. Family would push me to lose more. Society would push me to lose more. It will never ever ever be enough. You will never be thin enough, there is no bmi low enough to satisfy them, there is no "progress" that won't just make them pity or shame you even more. Your personal circumstances aren't important to a pseudo-scientific practice, the variables don't matter that much, it must be a one-size-fits-all solution.

Every weight loss pill, every low calorie shake or meal replacement, every weight watchers frozen meal, it all contributes to the pseudo-scientific cult of thinness. Every ad that says you're not good enough, it pushes you to drop your critical thinking skills. We have created a world where people think shitting themselves into thinness using potions with untested ingredients is healthier than having some fat on their bodies. But it's not! That's absurd! You're sending your body into a constant state of gastric shock!! And one day, when you get bored of eating tasteless nutrient paste and decide to eat something with some flavour in it, your body will react with a starvation response and store every little bit of fat that it can, because it's so used to being fucking starved. Which sends people into a panic response, buying up more pills and trying to crash-diet and lose their meagre protective layers.

Your body stores fat because that's your reserve energy. Fat is protective. I thank my body every day for storing so much energy for me, fuck knows I need it! That's your blubber!! You are a large mammal. Your body is designed to keep energy in reserve so you can sleep and stay warm and keep your brain alive. You should research the human metabolic process. You should research the cow metabolic process. You should research bear metabolic process. YOU NEED FAT!

And just like so many other pseudosciences, fatphobia and all that it entails is deeply rooted in racism and specifically antiblackness. It is not a mistake that the ozempic-chic era is coinciding with one of the biggest waves of open, globalised white supremacy we've seen in decades. Whiteness needs to perform & police whiteness constantly, maintaining appearances is THE way to stay part of the ingroup.

Ever wanted to exercise more, but didn’t know how/didn’t have a plan/were overwhelmed by the insane number of choices online/no money?

Look at darebee. All of their workout plans are FREE, come with timers and checkboxes right on the page, and even better, ARE OFTEN RPG THEMED so you can fucking role play while you exercise wtff (and yes, the story and the workout changes with your choices)

They have programs for if you only want to do seated exercises, programs if you don’t want to get on the floor, and programs for ALL levels of fitness, including injury recovery.

Plus, if like me, you get anxious about making sure you’re doing it right, they have a full free library of videos for each exercise.

AND ALL THIS SHIT IS NOT JUSTS FREE, IT'S AD-FREE

Go forth and defeat your enemies

i don't wanna feel sexy like tv. i don't wanna feel sexy like little black dress. i wanna feel sexy like high note during karaoke. like just got done writing 14 pages of poetry. like let me show you this scarf i've been knitting. i wanna feel sexy like hand on the back of the headrest while you parallel park. like did i tell you about that time i saved a baby bird. like don't tell her but i've been sneaking money into her purse.

i don't wanna feel pretty like expensive. like high fashion. like paid to be here. i wanna feel pretty like a bird in a puddle. i wanna feel pretty like streak of dyed hair. i wanna feel pretty like calligraphy, like new leaves, like a skinned knee bleed, like a dog running at full speed. i wanna feel pretty like lying next to you. i wanna feel pretty like the new album just dropped, i wanna feel pretty like a shower, i wanna feel pretty like a stone wall all covered in moss.

i keep saying body neutrality. that feels negative - no bad things, no good things, just body. but i mean - my body is neutral like a flower is neutral like an oil slick is neutral like a day is neutral, too. my body is neutral so a kiss can feel like lightning so a dance can feel like a hula hoop so a walk to get coffee can feel like - god, i'm so happy to just be around you.

The “I’m actually oppressed and you’re not” fatphobe who’s part of multiple other minorities and is probably the most idiotic of all fatphobes. You’d think this person would be for equality, but they actually only care about gatekeeping and maintaining an oppression hierarchy that puts them at the top.

The previously-fat fatphobe who doesn’t realize that they are destined to be fat again according to all scientific evidence we currently have unless they result to an eating disorder. Gotta love when previously fat people push others down on their way to make it to the top of the thin privilege ladder!

The never-not-been-thin fatphobe who understands nothing about what it’s like to be fat in this world that treats fat people as the last punching bag of society without repercussions. They’re often the one who brings up thin shaming as either some ridiculous “counter point” to fatphobia or as a “Actually, I’m as oppressed as you are” argument.

The concern troll who loooooooves bringing up health into the equation as if health determines whether someone should be treated like a human being and as if there’s any scientific evidence that it is possible to intentionally lose weight long term in the first place

The “I was paid by weight watchers or [blank] weight loss drug to spout fatphobic pseudoscience” fatphobe who can’t turn down some buckaroonies from weight loss corporations!