Pause for a second and reflect on how you might answer that question.
There is no right answer and we all have different views, but interestingly, rarely do any of the women I know, work with or see on social media answer this with the body they’re in. Is that because there’s something fundamentally wrong with all of our bodies? Or because society has conditioned us to strive for a specific body type?
Is healthy a certain dress size? Bra size? Body fat percentage? Visible, chiseled abs? A certain height? Skin colour?
If you’re larger than society deems to be the “norm,” does that make you lazy and unhealthy by default?
The logical part our our brains would say no, of course not, yet we’re very quick to judge ourselves and each other.
And where is happy in this debate?
Skinny can be unhealthy and unhappy and you don’t have to go as far as anorexia for this to be the case. Conversely, big can be healthy, happy and amazingly accomplished – take a look at women like Mirna Valerio, Sarah Robles, Jessamyn Stanley, Louise Green, Roz “The Diva” Mays and many more if you want to see some examples of trailblazing athletes and fitness influencers.
I’m not saying there aren’t often health issues associated with being over (or indeed under) weight. Or that there isn’t any benefit to improving your nutrition and movement. That would be remiss of me (as well as career suicide!
What I am encouraging you to do is:
- celebrate the positives about your body and what it can do that makes you feel good;
- look at your health more holistically (see the great graphic from Precision Nutrition below) and focus on where you’d benefit most;
- do more of what makes you feel alive. and
- try not to tie your goals (and potentially your happiness) in to society’s often crummy messaging. You deserve better!
