Looking back at my adolescence and early adulthood, I didn’t have an eating disorder, but I certainly had a disordered relationship with food. During my teens I used to weigh myself on the bathroom scales and my aim was always to reduce the number on the scales, despite the weight of my body not negatively affecting my health.
The nineties and early noughties for me, were all about boy bands and fad diets! Weight loss membership companies with weigh–in sessions were hot on the scene, accompanied by products that claimed to help you lose weight, such as shakes and snacks. Back then, reducing the weight of your body was linked with being fit, healthy and happy and losing weight was something to be congratulated on.
Unfortunately, not much has changed over the past twenty years. For decades it’s been drilled into us that a fit and healthy body only comes in one size or shape, which is small, thin and lean. And the problem is, it’s just not true. A healthy body CAN be a large body, and likewise, a thin body can be an unhealthy body.
Through the use of social media platforms, we’re probably exposed to this narrow image of “health” even more so than twenty years ago, and a lot of the time without even knowing it. Think about the advertising that gyms and fitness centres use; the images are usually of thin, lean people. The photos used to sell fitness equipment such as resistance bands or Pilates rings are typically of people with low body fat percentage. When you look up anything to do with fitness, health or exercise on the internet or social media, chances are you’ll find a reference to weight loss somewhere in the search results.
But, what would happen if we were to separate weight loss from health? Well firstly, weight loss companies would most likely go out of business. Secondly, we’d all have a better relationship with our health, food and exercise.
Here are four ways in which having a goal to lose weight or drop a dress can have a negative impact on your health:
The weight, size, shape or BMI (Body Mass Index) of your body are NOT accurate measurements of your health.
Weight, size and BMI also ignore all the good stuff that’s going on the inside, like cardiovascular health, muscle mass, strength, gut health, etc. Bring to your mind the image of an olympic weightlifter. They have a larger body than most people but they are strong and healthy. Someone who has a low body fat percentage may not do any exercise and smoke a packet of cigarettes a day, despite matching the image of what society would deem “a healthy weight”.
Intentional weight loss can lead to weight cycling.
This is when you lose weight, gain weight, lose, gain, repeatedly over years, which can be damaging to your health, hormones and relationship with food and exercise.
Intentional weight loss can affect your mental health.
If your main goal is to reduce the number on the scales it’s easy to become consumed with thinking about food, “is this good for me? Is it bad? Will it make me put on weight?”. You end up constantly thinking about what you’re eating and often feel guilty when you eat something that we think will cause weight gain.
It promotes a payoff system between food and exercise (I ate xyz calories therefore I need to burn xyz calories).
You don’t need to earn your food or use exercise as punishment for eating chocolate or ice cream, but with having weight loss as your main goal, this is what often happens and you end up using exercise to simply burn calories, rather than get stronger or increase your fitness.
I want to make clear that I don’t believe that losing weight is a bad thing. It’s part of having bodily autonomy (meaning you have the right to make decisions over your own body, and if you want to reduce your body weight that’s absolutely fine). Reducing your body fat percentage and therefore your overall weight can, in some circumstances, contribute to better cardiovascular and joint health. However, I truly believe that having other goals that aren’t focused on weight loss are much better for your physical and mental health and if your body does need to reduce in weight, then it will most likely happen as a by–product of reaching these goals, without focusing on the weight loss itself.
So what goals are helpful to have if you want to focus on your health?
Here’s my advice: Set your goals on what you can gain, rather than take away. For example, set a goal of gaining a certain amount of muscle, or increasing your bone density or running a certain distance.
Give yourself time. Anything that promises to transform your body in a few short weeks is a red flag and in my opinion is best avoided. Think of achieving your health and fitness goals as a long steady marathon, rather than a short sprint. There are no quick fixes when it comes to your health, you’re in it for the long game.
Base any nutrition related goals on adding colour and variety to your plate, rather than taking things away. Cutting out food groups, unless directed to by a dietician or nutritionist, can be damaging to your health. Think of food as on a scale from less nutritious to more nutritious. It’s important to fuel your body and mind with a range of food along this entire scale.
Base your exercise goals on bringing you joy! If your goal is to get up everyday at 5am and go for a run but it makes you miserable, then try to think of other ways that you can move that will make you feel happy.
Your body is truly wonderful no matter its size, shape or weight. It deserves to be fuelled with a wide range of food and moved in a way that brings a smile to your face.
Louise Hurley As a MumSafe™ trainer and Pregnancy and Postnatal Corrective Exercise Specialist, Louise’s mission is to help mums at every stage of motherhood safely start or return to exercise. Louise is the owner of Strong Mums and runs small group training and 1:1 PT. Find out more at www.strongmums.com or on social media @strongmumsgosford