On I’ve been in the fitness industry full-time for 6 years, 9 years part-time before that, but it wasn’t until recently that I began to notice (in the last 5 years) the term “body positivity”.
Body positivity is acceptance and appreciation of all human body types.
It encompasses and includes all body types, abilities, and shapes; and all ages and stages.
Whatever society thinks is “beautiful” shouldn’t change how we feel about ourselves.
We can feel confident, worthy, and valuable no matter what our shape, size, or ability.
Body positivity goes beyond just “tolerating” or “allowing” other bodies.
Instead, body positivity begins with acceptance (i.e. this is how things are) and moves into appreciation: having actively good feelings about your body, and others’ bodies.
Body positivity if practiced with compassion and social awareness of power and privilege is some pretty dope shit politically too.
Much like feminism, body positivity has been watered down by capitalism and media to sell consumer-style “choices” rather than pushing for protection of people whose bodies are marginalized.
Marginalized by the political and sexual agendas of their oppressors. Marginalized by the ignorance of people scripted to go along with that agenda. Marginalized, perhaps, simply by being invisible.
As the body positivity movement becomes more mainstream, the push to make other institutions—including media, law, schools, and housing—more inclusive of people whose bodies have been marginalized has been sidelined.
Empowerment is an important part of understanding our relationship to our bodies and making connections between the size of our bodies and the way we’re treated within society.
We need to challenge ourselves to go beyond the affirming, empowering, “l love myself in spite of flaws” type of stories to actually challenge institutions to stop discriminating against marginalized human bodies.
We need to see more than thin, white, cisgender, heterosexual women who have co-opted the movement to build their brands.
Let me ask you:
Do you see “yourself” in the world?
Do you see “yourself” — people who look, move, and live like you — in the media? In positions of power?
Do you see images of “yourself” out there being sexy and cool and strong and inspiring and visible? Being “fit”, whatever that means? Being proud and open and “out there” living unapologetic lives?
If you see “yourself”, do you feel good about those images? Do they empower you?
That empowerment and inspiration is part of body positivity, and many of us don’t (yet) have it.
So, let’s create it for ourselves.
At Iron Lion Training, we do our best to to provide a space that fosters body positivity, as well as provide compassionate coaching to help with its practice.
However, you should know:
I haven’t always been body positive.
It took me years of unlearning, reprogramming, and sifting through a lot of negative noise to reach a place of body positivity.
And then, it took years more to create a safe space for this work to be practiced.
Notice that I say “practiced”.
Body positivity asks us to practice the principles daily.
It is active, not passive, and not easy.
It is much more than a convenient buzzword that fitness corporations seem to be ‘selling’ these days.
True body positivity means working towards the empowerment (emotional, economic, social, political and beyond) of others.
That goes for your own body, and everyone else’s too.
It means standing up for people who are being treated unfairly because of social attitudes toward their bodies, which can be complicated and challenging especially when dealing with people you care about, who aren’t aware of this particular way to be.
And yes, it is a choice. It’s a different way to ‘be’. And I highly recommend it.
This choice is a freedom I hope more people will adopt, but it means you have to be courageous, and fight for it.
Body positivity can be scary.
You have to take a good hard look at your own biases, influences, and exposure, and then work on new beliefs.
From the other side of ‘the scary part’, I can tell you:
Once you go through a bit of the discomfort, you have the opportunity for a beautiful, loving relationship.
With yourself!
Wait, what?
Yes!
Start by re-cultivating the way you speak to yourself.
First
Love
Yourself
This doesn’t mean an unrelenting, fake kumbaya Pollyanna bullshit script. It means loving, and respecting your body honestly, and being kind in how you speak, and motivate yourself.
Circling back to it isn’t always easy. Some days you won’t agree with your body. It may feel like it hates you, or vice versa — but it’s you, and your body FOR LIFE.
Be kind, try not to hurt it — and if you do? Learn to do better.
It really is that simple.
It is OK to love yourself, and strive to be ‘better’, in the ways you choose.
For example, it is OK to love yourself, and also want to lose weight.
My advice would be to try to enjoy learning how to make that happen. You can lose weight, and also be kind to yourself.
It’s OK to love yourself and also want to be fitter or have more muscle.
You can pursue strength, and again, not feel weird or selfish about your interest.
Basically what I am saying, is:
Whatever the fuck you want for YOUR body, go forth and do that, with love.
Trust me, it is a better experience, and you learn so much about yourself, and what you need to be your best.
I’ve lost weight in the past for sport, but recently when a change in my work, and sleep habits changed, I found myself packing on pounds.
I chose to lose weight in order to feel and perform better. But I did it body-positive style.
I was compassionate to my body. I listened. I was kind. I practiced simple habits with love.
My approach wasn’t strict, or rigid. I kept my alcohol to 1-2x/week and snacking to a minimum, while diligently working on my sleep habits.
I managed to lose 15 lbs over the summer and gained more energy, all while posting a higher total than ever before in a Powerlifting competition.
Cool.
And I did this without being a total asshole to myself, and others.
Fat loss isn’t about deprivation, white-knuckling your way through some 6 weeks of cabbage diet, detox, body wrap, or other piss away money endeavours. You don’t have to suffer while going ‘thru it’…
It’s also OK to need help with any changes you want to make.
I’m excited to share what I’ve learned, and coach you with your fitness goals.
I have gone through the process myself, mentored and coached hundreds of women through the same process, and am looking for 15 new clients who are ready, willing, and able to begin their own journey of strength, awareness, and love.
Everyone taking part will have access to a science driven system that helps with both the physical and psychological side of fat loss and muscle gain. It clears up a lot of the fitness industry’s ‘white noise’ when it comes to eating for fat loss.
No shame, guilt or judgement.
We meet you where you are, right now, today. We work at a pace that is sustainable for you.
We use Pro Coach, an online coaching curriculum from Precision Nutrition, one of the world’s leaders in online nutrition education (so it’s legit).
This helps us deliver sustainable good nutrition habits (along with healthy attitudes towards self), in bite-sized daily lessons along with simple tasks that help you put ideas into action.
It’s worked for nearly 100,000 people just like you — people who just wanted to look, feel, and perform a bit better in their real lives, with their real bodies.
We’re not here to “fix” you. We’re here to guide, support, and help YOU get where YOU want to go… wherever that is.
We know online coaching inside and out, and we’ve worked with people of all ages, shapes, sizes, stages of life, and busy-ness.
We’re PN Level 1 and 2 Certified, we know our shit, and most importantly:
We care about YOU and YOUR goals.
That could be losing fat, gaining muscle, getting stronger, feeling more functional, loving yourself more, and treating yourself right!
So with that, allow me to reintroduce myself,
I’m Steph — a caring, compassionate, and body positive coach.
Not only will I take good care of you as a human being, I’ll take care of your fitness too.
I’ve got 15 years of experience and I love supporting people along their journey to feeling and performing better.
My husband and I have created a safe, body-positive fitness studio in Toronto for folks who are interested in doing fitness a little differently — without shame, guilt, or judgement, but with an amazingly cool community.
We have also broadened our reach, and are now offering this system online.
Why is that important to know?
We can train you anywhere in the world, remotely.
Cool right?!
If you are interested in joining my next group, you can get started here.
Now go forth, and be the bad muthafucka you are.
Lots of love,
Steph
Coach, and Chief Lioness
Tagged with: body-positive, change, coaching, community, compassion, exercise, fitness, health, life balance, mental health, nutrition, personal training, psychology, self confidence
