Do you think it's ok to 'love your body' whatever shape?

The way I see it is that if you don't love yourself a bit then you won't do anything to change it. People usually have such a low self esteem that they don't want to change so there's got to be a bit of respect for yourself and your body otherwise you'll never change. That's how I got to 265 pounds. There's obviously an argument for loving your body but I think you've got to love yourself otherwise you'll just never bother.

The way I see it is that if you don't love yourself a bit then you won't do anything to change it. People usually have such a low self esteem that they don't want to change so there's got to be a bit of respect for yourself and your body otherwise you'll never change. That's how I got to 265 pounds. There's obviously an argument for loving your body but I think you've got to love yourself otherwise you'll just never bother.

I agree. I also think that weight or body shape is not always a good indicator of how healthy an individual's lifestyle is.

I think 'loving your body' and 'loving yourself' are too tangled up.

I mean, when you're very overweight and society looks down on you and judges you to be lazy/ugly/smelly etc, it's a very damaging perception to your self-esteem. It often doesn't inspire you to change, but makes you retreat, hide away and double down on the comfort eating.

So I think it can be useful for someone to be fat-positive if it makes them feel better about themselves and to make the most of their lives. It's so much harder for someone to get out and about and *doing*, if they're constantly shamed for their size. A person is more likely to be able to make those changes if they have a bit of self-love.

Yes I think everyone should love their body, whatever their shape or size. However, my definition of "love your body" includes "do right by it" which includes "keep it healthy". So if someone truly loves their morbidly obese body then they will do right by it and get healthy. Even if they are focused on being healthy rather than thin (which IMO they should be) they will at least not end up being morbidly obese. Even if they don't want to be as thin as some sections of society would want them to be, they will at least end up healthy and accepting themselves for who they are, which is a lot more likely to lead to being happy as well as healthy.

Self hatred is a very negative place to start trying to get your body fat percentage into the healthy range, and if you hate yourself, I don't see how it's going to be easy to motivate yourself to become healthy. On the other hand, if you truly like and accept yourself, you have the motivation there already to get healthy. You wouldn't want anyone else that you love to carry on being unhealthy, so why do that to yourself? You don't... you love yourself enough to look after yourself properly and get healthy. I've come across many people who are very obese, hate themselves, and have no motivation to change because they hate themselves. Maybe they have to learn how to love themselves to be able to find the motivation to make whatever changes they need to to be able to get healthy.

Also I've lost count of how many people get to their goal weight and find that the body hatred doesn't go away. So they end up thinking I'll just make this change and that change, lose another 5kg and *then* I'll be happy, and *then* I'll like myself.... but it doesn't happen. And if this kind of thinking goes on indefinitely, it can lead to eating disorders and other health problems.

Many thin people are not healthy or happy, yet no-one tells them they're not allowed to love their bodies until they're healthy.

The sooner everyone learns to love their body and also to look after them well and stay healthy, the better.

theres accepting people for who they are rather than judging them for what they look like, and the health of the individual. being overweight or underweight doesn't necessarily make the individual unattractive, but from a health standpoint, which is unrelated to this, it is not good at all.

so yes, everyone is a beautiful snowflake in a perfect PC world.

but weather or not people accept you as over or underweight doesn't change the fact that it is hazardous to your health.

shes allowed to feel good about herself, but it doesn't change the fact that your body isn't meant to weigh 250lb if you're 5'1.

that will kill yo *kitten* like a sack of potatoes.

Loving your body and recognising the damage your diet is doing are two different things. If you don't love your body why would you care enough to take care of it?

I also think here in America we are distorted on what is a healthy weight so people are ok with being a little overweight cuz they think thats normal.

I also think here in America we are distorted on what is a healthy weight so people are ok with being a little overweight cuz they think thats normal.

yup. but if yall stopped consuming 5 times what yall actually need your economy would collapse.

Define 'love' in this case.

If it means stuffing it full of cupcakes and screaming "SO WHAT IF IM FAT, IM FABULOUS" when your genitals are disappearing into the depths of your belly rolls, then no, it's not okay.

If it means "I'm okay with myself, but I need to look after it" then yes.

Loving your body and recognising the damage your diet is doing are two different things. If you don't love your body why would you care enough to take care of it?

This is exactly how I feel about it. I never wanted to lose weight more than when I started loving my body.

PLEASE DO NOT think this is an attack on overweight people. I'd like some nice friendly debate.

My friend who is at uni is obese (by Doctor's standards, not mine). In fact I'm pretty sure she may be verging on morbidly obese.

She's doing a project about how society perceives her and other people, because of the size they are. For example overweight people are seen as unattractive, and models are seen as beauty.

I love what she is doing I genuinely do, but I do see flaws in her argument. She clearly has issues with food, as one may have issues with food if they were a model - different issues.

My question is, should we be saying it is ok to love your body whatever your size, even if you could be severely undernourished by either eating too much of the wrong foods or not enough of the right ones?

My personal opinion is no. I think overweight people should be conscious of their health, just like an underweight person should be. I don't think it is ok to say love your body whatever the shape as this may enable continuation of unhealthy eating habits.

I disagree. I'm overweight, by dr standards I'm obese and I love my body. I love my body so much that I know that I need to feed it better and move it more and make it stronger. It is possible to do both and it's a lot harder to work on being healthy if it doesn't come from a place of self love. It's really really hard to take care of something you hate. And it is possible to love something while you're in the process of changing it. You don't hate a house because you remodel the bathroom and repaint the shutters.

Now do I think it's okay to be unhealthy and to continue eating junk and not exercising claiming that you love your body the way it is, not for me personally, but if that's what makes someone happy, their body, their health, their issues.

Yes I think everyone should love their body, whatever their shape or size. However, my definition of "love your body" includes "do right by it" which includes "keep it healthy". So if someone truly loves their morbidly obese body then they will do right by it and get healthy. Even if they are focused on being healthy rather than thin (which IMO they should be) they will at least not end up being morbidly obese. Even if they don't want to be as thin as some sections of society would want them to be, they will at least end up healthy and accepting themselves for who they are, which is a lot more likely to lead to being happy as well as healthy.

Self hatred is a very negative place to start trying to get your body fat percentage into the healthy range, and if you hate yourself, I don't see how it's going to be easy to motivate yourself to become healthy. On the other hand, if you truly like and accept yourself, you have the motivation there already to get healthy. You wouldn't want anyone else that you love to carry on being unhealthy, so why do that to yourself? You don't... you love yourself enough to look after yourself properly and get healthy. I've come across many people who are very obese, hate themselves, and have no motivation to change because they hate themselves. Maybe they have to learn how to love themselves to be able to find the motivation to make whatever changes they need to to be able to get healthy.

Also I've lost count of how many people get to their goal weight and find that the body hatred doesn't go away. So they end up thinking I'll just make this change and that change, lose another 5kg and *then* I'll be happy, and *then* I'll like myself.... but it doesn't happen. And if this kind of thinking goes on indefinitely, it can lead to eating disorders and other health problems.

Many thin people are not healthy or happy, yet no-one tells them they're not allowed to love their bodies until they're healthy.

The sooner everyone learns to love their body and also to look after them well and stay healthy, the better.

very well said.

I think it's imperative to love your body, no matte what shape it's in. Here's why: if you love something, then you do whatever you can to take care of it. People generally become overweight in the first place because they DON'T love themselves, and therefor don't put the necessary effort into caring for themselves by making sure they are healthy.

PLEASE DO NOT think this is an attack on overweight people. I'd like some nice friendly debate.

My friend who is at uni is obese (by Doctor's standards, not mine). In fact I'm pretty sure she may be verging on morbidly obese.

She's doing a project about how society perceives her and other people, because of the size they are. For example overweight people are seen as unattractive, and models are seen as beauty.

I love what she is doing I genuinely do, but I do see flaws in her argument. She clearly has issues with food, as one may have issues with food if they were a model - different issues.

My question is, should we be saying it is ok to love your body whatever your size, even if you could be severely undernourished by either eating too much of the wrong foods or not enough of the right ones?

My personal opinion is no. I think overweight people should be conscious of their health, just like an underweight person should be. I don't think it is ok to say love your body whatever the shape as this may enable continuation of unhealthy eating habits.

I don't agree. I feel that you're talking about what are really two separate things, body image and disordered eating. (Probably three separate things if you include health). But I'd agree that it's difficult to pick them apart!

I don't feel it's mentally healthy to hate your body, and I don't think it's a good idea to encourage it. I've managed to lose weight without having to hate my body. I was OK with my (borderline morbidly obese) body before I lost the weight and I'm OK with it now. In fact, I think it might have been HARDER to lose weight if I'd hated my body. It would have felt like I was punishing myself and my body.

And at what point would it become OK to love your body? Obese? Overweight? Healthy BMI range? The truth is that although we see success stories here, many many people either fail to lose the weight or regain it and/or yoyo diet. Trying to lose weight isn't necessarily the healthy option, and it's statistically unlikely to succeed long-term. In the meantime, I'd rather people were happy with their bodies.

If you love your body, you're more likely to want to treat it right.

I dont think there is anything wrong with loving your body no matter your shape...in fact I think its important too...BUT....i think its just as important if not more important to recognise health risks, body shape is aesthetics...how your body performs and how healthy it is is more important in my opinion.