Stay Body Positive While Losing Weight
In a world that’s made great strides in embracing body positivity and learning to love your body, it’s important to recognize that loving your body and wanting to improve your health can go hand in hand. The idea that you must hate your body to change it is outdated and harmful.
In truth, pursuing a healthier weight can be one of the most loving things you do for yourself, especially when it’s rooted in self-care rather than shame.
How to Stay Body Positive While Losing Weight
Reasons For Losing Weight
People choose to lose weight for various reasons, many of which are tied to overall health and well-being.
Excess body fat is:
- Linked to an increased risk of heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Joint pain
- Certain cancers
- Decreased Mobility
Excess body fat can affect:
- Mental health
Energy levels
Sleep quality
Reproductive health
Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight can lead to improved stamina, better mood, more restful sleep, and a lower risk of chronic disease.
Over the past decade, the cultural pendulum has swung from toxic body shaming to a more inclusive and accepting environment. This is a positive shift—everyone deserves respect, no matter their size. But in some corners of the body acceptance movement, there’s a resistance to acknowledging the very real health risks associated with obesity. Normalizing all body types shouldn’t mean ignoring science. A balanced perspective means loving your body enough to take care of it—and that includes recognizing when excess weight may be harming your health.
10 Ways to Approach Weight Loss While Staying Body Positive:
1 – Focus on health, not appearance
Make building muscle and bone, increasing energy, and improving the health of your heart as your goal, not shrinking to fit a beauty standard.
2 – Focus on habits, not outcomes
Instead of focusing on an outcome (ie, lose 20 pounds), focus on the habits and behaviors that will help you achieve optimal health. Set habits such as drinking half your ideal body weight in ounces of water each day, consuming 5 vegetables/fruits each day, getting 7-9 hours of sleep or hitting 10,000 steps per day.
3 – Celebrate what your body can do
Instead of hyper-focusing on how your body looks, focus on your ability to walk, run, climb, jump, stretch and lift. Appreciate your strength and endurance. Love your body for what it can do and the miraculous functions it performs automatically all day, everyday. Your heart beats, your lungs breathe, your organs function and your muscles move. Our bodies are amazing!
4 – Set realistic, sustainable goals
Avoid extreme diets or excessive exercise —think lifestyle change you can sustain long-term.
5 – Practice self-compassion
Speak kindly to yourself, even on tough days. Avoid negative self-talk. Understand that progress isn’t linear. Don’t let setbacks set you back. Take it one day at a time and focus on doing the things that bring your closer to living your best life. Avoid comparing your journey and your body to others. We are all unique and beautiful in our own way.
6 – Wear clothes that make you feel good now
Don’t wait to feel confident. Consider hiring a stylist to help determine what colors and styles look best on your body. The Difference in downtown Vancouver offers this service.
7 – Do what you love
Choose physical activities that make you happy and bring you joy. If you enjoy your workouts, you’ll be more likely to continue for the long term. If you dread your workouts, you will be more likely to skip workouts or quit completely.
8 – Fuel your body
Nourish your body with nutrient-dense and balanced meals. You are what you eat, and you can’t do great things if you don’t feel great! With that said, it’s all about balance. Enjoying a treat or indulgence without shame or guilt is key to a healthy approach to nutrition. Eating healthy 80-90% of the time allows for all things in moderation.
9 – Track non-scale victories
Has your sleep improved? Can you lift heavier? Track if you walk further. Set a goal to cover a mile faster. Has your energy increased? These benefits count just as much as pounds lost.
10 – Seek support
Surround yourself with people and coaches who encourage healthy changes and habits, not weight-based judgment.
Remember: you can love your body and still want to improve it. Health and self-acceptance are not mutually exclusive—they are deeply connected. Health and self-acceptance are not mutually exclusive—they are deeply connected.
Yours in health & fitness,
Sherri McMillan
Struggling to Lose Weight and Keep It Off?
Sherri McMillan
Sherri McMillan, holds a master's degree in exercise physiology and has been inspiring the world to adopt a fitness lifestyle for more than 33 years. She has received numerous industry awards including 2010 CanFitPro International Presenter of the Year, 2006 IDEA Fitness Director of the Year, 1998 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, 1998 CanFitPro Fitness Presenter of the Year and 2005/2006 ACE Fitness Educator of the Year - Runner up. She is a fitness trainer, fitness columnist for various magazines and newspapers, author of five books and manuals including "Go For Fit - the Winning Way to Fat Loss" and "Fit over Forty" and the featured presenter in various fitness DVDs. She has presented hundreds of workshops to thousands of fitness leaders throughout Canada, Australia, Mexico, Jamaica, New Zealand, Germany, England, Spain, South America, Asia and the U.S. She is the owner of Northwest Personal Training in downtown Vancouver, the founder of WHY Racing Events & WHY Community, participates in various community fundraisers and can be found running, biking, or hiking around the community. Find more information at nwpersonaltraining.com.