ChadShannel is going to sleep in and skip the gym today.

I got this e-mail today: “I’m thinking about my New Year’s resolutions and I want to make exercise one of them (not for weight loss, I know that doesn’t work) but because I understand that it’s good for my body. The problem is, I absolutely hate it so I don’t know if doing it fits in with my idea of Health at Every Size. I hear people talk about “joyful moving” but there’s nothing joyful about it for me!”

This is a question I get a lot.  First, there is a mistaken notion out there that because I talk about my life as a fathlete, and I talk about what the research says about fitness, that I am “promoting” exercise or I think that people “should” exercise.

Sometimes this happens because I haven’t written things as clearly as I…

Design by Kris Owen

A question I get from readers pretty often, especially readers new to Health at Every Size/Size Acceptance is some version of “I’m all for Size Acceptance and Health at Every Size for anyone else and I want to end weight stigma, shame, and bullying for people of all sizes,  but I still want to lose weight for [xyz reasons] – I don’t know what to do…”  I had several people ask some version of it today, so I’m re-posting this in case it’s helpful.

First of all, I think that people have a right to make choices for their bodies, so I’m not trying to tell anyone how to live.  I came to Health at Every Size in a roundabout way.  I had become frustrated with the diet programs my doctor was prescribing and, as a trained researcher, I decided to read the actual research to…

Picture courtesy of the fabulous Jodee Rose http://jodee.deviantart.com

Someone shared a Facebook meme with me that said “I may be fat, but I’m fabulous!”  I’ve seen this in any number of iterations: I may be fat but I”m fit, or I may be fat, but I’m not lazy, even though I fat I’m still beautiful etc.

I’ve certainly done this myself in the past and while I’m not trying to tell anyone what to say or think, I do think that this may be worth looking at.

What I realized for me was that when I said  “I’m fat but…” or “even though I’m fat…”  I (however inadvertently) gave credence to stereotypes about fat people.  For example if I say that I’m fat but I’m a good dancer, there is a suggestion that the fact that I’m both fat and a good dancer is a surprise, or that I’m somehow overcoming…

My husband and I were discussing the blog the other night, while cuddling on couch. He said that someone told him that the body positive movement was only created so overweight people can feel good about being overweight. My husband, bless his heart, said maybe the movement would have more legitimacy if there was more to it.

I tried not to let my rage boil over and burn his face.

First off, and this is truly just a side note, there is nothing wrong with people loving their body type even if it is not ideal. Just because you don’t find something aesthetically attractive doesn’t mean other people won’t. The fact that we need a movement so women can stop hiding in their homes and be out in the world is a sign that it is needed. No woman, no one, should have to hide in shame because of how…