My Honest Opinions About The Body Positivity Movement

Greetings, Vocal readers. I want to talk about one of the most sensitive topics out there: weight. I’m here to talk about the Body Positivity movement and my thoughts on it. Plus, I’ll be talking about Health at Every Size hypothesis and the Fat Acceptance movement. Before I go any further, I want to make a few things clear: I am in no way fat shaming anyone, because I think that ridiculing someone’s body is disgusting and heartless. Second of all, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Finally, what I’m about to tell everyone is coming from someone who looked and felt heavy at one point, but not obese. This is coming from a sincere place and out of genuine concern.

I was doing some research about these movements and also the statistics of obesity among adults. They are not only alarming, but disturbing. As of 2019, here are the statistics I’ve ran into:

•According to stateofobesity.org, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, or BRFSS, states that adult obesity rates exceeded 35% in nine states, 30% in 31 states, and 25% in 48 states.

•One in three Americans are obese. Mississippi and West Virginia had the highest adult obesity rates at 39.5% while Colorado had the lowest at 23%.

According to a Time article, by the year 2030, one in two adults will be considered obese, while one in four will be severely obese with a BMI of 40 and higher.

I recently polled my followers on Instagram and asked them if the Body Positivity movement and Health at Every Size hypothesis were doing more harm than good. 73% of them said yes, while 27% said no.

Here are my thoughts about the Body Positivity movement. While I think it’s good for everyone to be and feel confident about themselves, this movement is sending the wrong message to others, especially to children, telling them that it’s acceptable to stay the way you are without making better eating habits and trying to lose weight. The Health at Every Size and Fat Acceptance movement are saying that you can be obese or overweight and still feel healthy. I disagree with that mantra. It’s not okay to be fat, because it has dire consequences, such as diabetes and other health problems. I believe that being too fat or even too skinny is unhealthy. If you want to live longer, you have to make changes to your eating habits and also, being active. You have to be willing to give up certain foods and drinks.

In early 2013, I weighed 200 pounds. I wore a size 32 in pants and felt heavy. I wasn’t obese, but I lacked the willpower to work out and be active. Moving and adjusting to a new area, eating stuff that I knew wasn’t good for me, and being depressed and feeling insecure about myself, took a toll on me. Before and after I started doing cosplay, I was fat shamed online and my self-esteem was at its lowest point. I felt like this for about four years until I started working out. I went from being 200 pounds to 164 pounds in two years. I dropped two pant sizes. I admit that my weight has gone up and down a little since then, but I’m currently trying to lose a few more pounds. I’ve since given up many foods and drinks, such as soda, milk, and alcoholic beverages. I stay active by riding my bike, drinking more water, and walking. Plus, watching what I eat. It takes so much to save your own life and not become a statistic.

You’ve probably read about Jillian Michaels’ comments about singer Lizzo. If you haven’t, here’s what happened. The trainer and former Biggest Loser host was accusing Lizzo of celebrating obesity and people on social media were accusing Michaels of body shaming the singer. Lizzo would later respond back to Michaels’ comments in a NSFW post on Instagram.

Here’s my opinion about this situation: whether if you’re a fan of Jillian Michaels or not, she was speaking facts. While I like Lizzo and love her confidence, Jillian was saying that Lizzo's size is at an unhealthy weight. As I’ve been saying on social media numerous times, if you’re big and love yourself, that’s great. However, I want people who are overweight to make healthier choices and try to lose some pounds. For me, body positivity should be geared towards those who are overweight, but making an effort of losing weight. Also, it should be geared towards those who aren’t overweight, but want to be active, for the sake of their health. We shouldn't act like obesity should be hip and acceptable. Too many people often confuse curvy with being fat. There’s nothing wrong with being curvy, but it’s not realistically possible to be overweight and still be healthy. People often tell me that I look fine just the way I am. I take a bit of offense to that, because I want to better myself and be around for a long time. I don’t want to go back to where I was almost seven years ago.

I care about each and every one of you. Health is our wealth, so it’s important for us to be active in order for us to live longer lives. I’m not saying that people who are overweight are lazy. The things that I’m saying are facts and the truth. I had a friend and classmate, who has since passed away, was once overweight. I’ve know him since middle school and high school. He took a few months off from school and when he returned, he lost a bunch of weight and I almost didn’t recognize him. I was so happy for him for his weight loss. The reason why I’m telling everyone all this is because I don’t want anyone’s health failing, due to poor eating habits or whatever it may be. If you’re reading this article and taking the necessary steps to lose weight, you can do this. It may be hard at first, but I believe in you. You can do anything that you put your mind into. Make your health a priority before it’s too late. It’s still one of my goals for 2020 to lose weight and be more active in order for me to do certain cosplays. Always remember that you are loved, respected, and appreciated. I’m simply trying to encourage you to save your own life. The decision lies within you and you have one body and one life.

So where do you stand on the movements I've mentioned and also the Health at Every Size approach? Please be sure to follow me on social media. The info to all of my social media pages can be found in my bio. If you enjoyed any of my articles, including this one, please feel free to send me a one-off tip, which is located at the end of every article. No tip is ever too big or small. It'll help me and other Vocal content creators to write better stories. Also, I encourage everyone to join Vocal+, a premium membership for Vocal content creators like me to write better stories, connect with creators, and a lot more. So be sure to sign up for that membership and support your favorite Vocal content creators.