“Telling women to love their bodies is a dangerous cop out” a thin, white woman stated.

She’s confused. And you probably are, too. Listen up. Body hatred gets women nowhere. Even if you’re at the gym every day from a place of body hatred, you’re not any healthier than the woman who has made peace with the size and shape of her body. The confusion comes in when both coach and client think that body acceptance means and yields apathy, negligence, and complacency about one’s health. It does not mean those things.

A woman who hates her body is going to be full of shame. Shame leads to improper coping mechanisms, poor stress management, and overall low self worth. None of which is conducive to wellness.

Do you know how much easier it is to take care of yourself- your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being when you don’t hate yourself?

I coach women through the lens of body acceptance and use strength training as our main modality of movement- it’s my jam. But body acceptance *should* be the lens that all Coach’s take- they’re just too busy capitalizing on how easy it is to make $$$ when you sell fat loss.

When a coach sells you inherent fat loss, what they’re trying to sell you is, hopefully, maybe… a sustainable and enjoyable way to live every day for the rest of your life. No one here wants you to be unhealthy. The issue with intentional weight loss is that it’s problematic long term. You become obsessive. You start and stop. You adopt all-or-nothing. Your coach tells you to eat whatever as long as it “fits” then suddenly you’re rationing out every last bite and doing extra cardio to burn it off.

It’s hard to find wellness through a weight loss lens.

Remember- whatever size and shape your body takes when you’re taking the best care of it is the size and shape your body is meant to be.

Take good care of yourself. Your hypothalamus literally takes care of the rest.

Get good sleep. Get outside. Move. Move more. Breath deeply. Journal. Talk it out. Eat fruits and vegetables. Stop freaking out about eating a cupcake. Stop watching the scale go up and down. Stop being an ass hole to yourself. Your body will take care of the rest.