Why Body Neutrality Is Beneficial To Me

Throughout our lives, most of us experience changes in our physical form. How we appear and feel is influenced by our fitness and eating habits.

Additional factors, such as stress levels, lifestyle, heredity, and general health, can, nevertheless, influence our body shape (physical and psychological). In summary, our body shape is determined by a range of factors other than what we eat and how much exercise we get.

Because to a number of different factors, I've increased in size over the last few years.Despite the fact that I continue to exercise frequently and maintain a similar diet, I have grown from a UK size 10 to a size 14 (US & Canada 8 to 12, Europe 38 to 42) in a reasonably short amount of time, indicating that the difference was evident.

As a result, a surprising number of individuals have offered unsolicited advise on what I was doing incorrectly. People around me started acting as if they knew all there was to know about diet, health, and exercise. Their advise was not appropriate for me on multiple levels for a variety of reasons:

- leaving aside the other factors that contributed to my weight increase. In my instance, I went through a difficult period in which my anxiety was at an all-time high. Our bodies' metabolic responses to stress have an impact on how we digest, absorb, and metabolize food.

- providing them with sound guidance. They didn't consider my usual eating habits or the activities that I enjoy.

- being obtrusive, to put it bluntly. Weight is a touchy and personal subject. It's not like I feel compelled to talk about it with anyone, at any time.

- having a condescending attitude "Look at me, I look wonderful, I plainly do and know more than you," to "oh, it's just your body type, what can you do?"

- being hurtful: “your boyfriend must have left you for a skinnier woman” (quite the opposite actually).

- assuming the weight gain was causing me distress and my self-worth was centred around it: “don’t worry, you are still a good looking gal, you can still get a boyfriend”.

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Body positivity encourages us to appreciate our bodies in all shapes and sizes. Every person's body is attractive. That is exactly my issue with the body positivity movement.

The emphasis is still on appearances; the only change is that it has switched from a certain form of beauty to "everything is lovely." To be honest, I've never focused my self-worth on my appearance.

We are all complex beings, and our outward appearance does not entirely describe who we are. Furthermore, I have always enjoyed my body simply because it is what it is: my body.

I don't want to have to think about my body's shape and size as the main criteria for appreciating it. I'm not even capable of it; I don't want to love and appreciate my size 14 wholeheartedly, and that's great with me.

Please consider what I'm saying. I don't adore my size 14 body, but I also don't despise it. In a dispassionate approach, I understand the desire to lose some weight in order to feel lighter and more flexible in yoga sessions, for example. My goal is to keep working at it while not losing my mind about the weight increase. There is no feeling better or worse for it. I practice body neutrality.

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Body neutrality focuses on what your body can achieve for you rather than what it can't do. My body can practice yoga, swim, stroll, watch great movies, speak with friends, read books, and eat delicious cuisine, among other things.

Body neutrality does not imply that I ignore my body, relax, eat junk food, or stop exercising. On the contrary, I am aware of the need of maintaining a healthy and strong body in order for it to perform the tasks I require. In a healthy body, a healthy mind is essential.

To me, it's about what constitutes a healthy and happy physique. I don't want to be bothered by its (larger) shape. On the other hand, I do not want to feel overly proud over its (slimmer) form either.

It is possible to live a happy life without giving too much thought to one's physical form and size, whether favorable or bad. Obsessing over the size, shape, and appearance of my body is a no-no for me.

I am a larger size today, but I may be a different size in the future. That is why I avoid engaging in body language with people and accepting unwanted counsel. More essential to me is remaining attentive, grounded, and recognizing my self-worth based on a diverse set of characteristics and ideals.

Regardless of my body type or size, I like my life and all it has to offer. I still hang out with my friends, go out, have hobbies, and do the things I enjoy. Body neutrality gives me the freedom to perceive myself as more than my body shape and size and live the life that still goes on fully.