This issue is “Be the Change” and on that note I’m stepping up to be the change I would like to see in the Body Positive/Acceptance Community, a world I’m immersed in yet don’t always feel a part of. I’m about to drop an unpopular opinion but, yes sometimes weight does matter. I know that many in the community preach for us to never look at our weight but there is ableism in that approach. Let me explain.
I know and understand that our culture and especially the medical system is fatphobic. I have been a victim of that system. I went undiagnosed with a lung disease for many years. They blamed my weight for nearly a decade as the reason that I was struggling to breathe. Over the years I have seen my thin pulmonary hypertension friends diagnosed and treated within weeks or maybe just a few months for the same disease. By the time I was diagnosed I was fading fast. I was on oxygen 24/7 and given less than two years to live without intervention. That delay in treatment has left me with permanently scarred lungs and a strong distrust of our medical system. A system that is clearly not treating larger bodied patients with the same care and attention as they do their thin patients. I can say all this AND say that sometimes weight is an important element to understanding and treating diseases. Those two truths can both exist. Some in the Body Positivity/ Acceptance movement say weight is never a factor in health, that scales are damaging and that desiring to change the body means one is not body positive. I would like to offer another perspective.
Yes, I know I may be the exception and not the rule, but I promise there are others that must watch their weight for very serious health reasons. In my case it’s due to the Pulmonary Hypertension which had me in the early stages of heart failure. In 2021 I was struggling to breathe again despite the lifesaving surgery on my lungs. After a visit to my specialist, it was determined that I needed a medication known as Lasix which is a diuretic to pull some of the water weight that was making my heart work harder. I have been on this medication for over a year and part of having this disease and being on this medication means I MUST weigh myself regularly (every few days at the least). A change in the scale can mean I need to adjust my medication or need to see my pulmonary hypertension specialist ASAP. Recently I noticed the scale was up and after a check in with my doctor and an adjustment in meds I lost 7 pounds in less than 12 hours. It was water weight, and it was making my heart work harder. Had I not checked my weight I might not have realized I needed that adjustment. Adjusting the meds got me feeling better which is always the goal.
So, when I see people demonizing the scale and/or subtly shaming those that do weigh themselves I get frustrated. Ableism is causing people to miss that for some people the scale is a part of our life, it must be because it’s valuable information that can help us monitor our health and prevent diseases from progressing. Rather than avoiding ever seeing our weight we can find ways to accept that weight is data that does not define us. It’s simply a neutral fact that can be useful and even necessary to keep our diseases in check. For many of us in the chronically ill community paying attention to our weight and other measurements is a part of looking for signs that there is something that needs addressing. Measuring weight should be approached just like checking blood pressure, oxygen or heartrate. Weight is not a measure of health itself, but it can be important in the monitoring of some medical situations. All bodies are different and therefore have different needs. People should have the agency to determine what their own body needs are and honor them.
I think there is room for the Body Positivity community to become more inclusive towards of those that have different needs and recognize that wanting to change our body is not inherently bad. For me it comes down to WHY? Why do you want to change your body? Is it to fit into the beauty standard? Because that is problematic, and that requires some work to shatter the ideas that the system instilled in you to make think you or your body aren’t beautiful or deserving. OR is it to FEEL better. If it’s the latter, then I’m all for it. For me personally I absolutely want to change my body. I want to get stronger; I want to feel better, breathe better and live better so that I can experience more of life. I will never have a healthy body, but I can strive for a healthier one by honoring my body’s unique needs. Wanting to change my body is rooted in how I feel and not how it looks.
Ableism is funny in that it seeps into every fabric of our lives. So much so that even when we think we are being inclusive AF our words and actions maybe aren’t aligned. We could be sending some detrimental messages to some of the most marginalized, chronically ill and disabled people. You see some of us don’t have the privilege of just ignoring our weight and that doesn’t mean that we aren’t body positive or that we aren’t practicing self-love. I would argue that we are absolutely practicing self-love and body positivity by caring for our body.
My hope is that the movement comes to a place of recognizing that part of Body Positivity is that each body has distinctive needs and that we allow everybody to do what is best for their own body free of judgment and shame. All bodies are beautiful because they allow us to experience life and they tell the story of the life we live. For me body positivity is about living and enjoying my life. If stepping on a scale keeps me healthy and feeling better which in turn allows me to experience more, I will. Other people may find it healthier for other reasons not to step on the scale. Neither is right or wrong but rather different bodies with different needs. People should always do what is in the best interest of their own unique body. That’s Body Positivity, the idea that each person has agency over their body. To do what they wish with their body. To care for, honor and enjoy it. Body Positivity is about being embodied and living the best and most enjoyable life you can. That’s what we all want in the end.
Published in October Issue of Pepper