What is Body Neutrality?
Me when I try to explain body neutrality…
A body is just a body. It doesn’t have moral value. It changes as you change. There’s nothing inherently good or evil about it. I used to think I had to constantly, aggressively love my body- if I didn’t feel that way on a day, I felt like I was failing or not being “positive” enough.
But I NEVER started feeling more “positive” than when I stopped trying to love OR hate my body, and just started existing in it. There were still things I liked AND things I wanted to change, but I started realizing life was independent of it. I show me from 125#-175#-145# to remind you that we literally just keep existing independent of what our bodies are doing. In the middle of all that I learned several things to be true at the same time:
Having things I liked about my body is okay. And having things I wanted to change about my body is okay. Try to remember, it’s LITERALLY just a like or a dislike. change it if you want. Keep it the same if you want. I like having short hair. I dislike having boobs. Does it matter? Does it mean I’m a better or worse person because of those things? (exactly…no lol)
Living in my body, exactly as it was at any point, didn’t change my value as a human or the life I lived. I had fun. I hung out with my friends. I trained at the gym, I competed, and I was proud of myself. I took my dog to the beach. I yelled like a lunatic at football matches. I worked at a job, and I was good at it. I enjoyed just living in the world around me. All of these things are independent of my body’s shape.
There’s a MUCH bigger conversation to be had about the way that society treats us in various-sized bodies and how that is a barrier to neutrality. BUT I’m trying to hone this inward for now or else this would be 8000 words!
Humans are a lot more complex than we maybe give ourselves credit for. If we really want to “love” our bodies, give it the respect to exist as just another thing about you. It’s valid to want to change it OR enjoy it as is. But why does it have to get so much dramatic attention as THE big thing?!?!?! Damn like what did it ever do to deserve that pressure. Why can’t it be just another thing?
Written By: Sam Lazar, Nutrition Coach