You Never Need to Worry About Your Weight Again

Focus only on your health and trust nature to take care of the rest.

There’s plenty of space for your natural body between an unhealthy weight and the unrealistic beauty standards portrayed in the media.
Created by Janet Cloete using Wikimedia Commons images from Muffintopmaria and Cedward Brice.

Are you happy with your weight? If you are, congratulations! You’re part of an elite group. According to this survey, only 2 in 10 Americans are happy with their bodies.

But have you ever wondered why we experience such large social pressures to appear slim and athletic? After all, there are several periods in history where plump bodies were desired, especially for women. Why are these same well-rounded figures stigmatized today?

Keeping Each Other Accountable

My best theory about today’s obesity stigma is that it’s our instinctive attempt to keep each other accountable for contributing to a better society. The societal costs of obesity are enormous, and our world would undoubtedly be a better place if it could be controlled more effectively.

But this way of thinking creates severe problems. For starters, we’ve managed to push the social body standard all the way to the opposite extreme. This unrealistic expectation completely neglects the large space between fitness model standards and obesity that is both healthy and attainable.