New year, new diet — at least, that's how the thinking seems to go for most people. In the days leading up to New Year's Eve, it's typical for people to make resolutions for the coming year about how much better, smarter, and stronger they're going to be. And for a lot of people, those resolutions include promises that have to do with dieting, calorie counting, and weight loss. Society often tells us that regardless of body size, almost everyone could stand to lose weight, "tone" up, or get more lean. But what if we all decided to stop thinking of bodies as constantly needing to change? What if this year, more people decided to focus on loving themselves instead?
Diet culture has helped to create a society in which everyone but a select few are shamed for their bodies. A 2014 Gallup poll showed that close to half of all US adults say they are preoccupied with their weight some or all of the time. But in a groundbreaking investigation of the science surrounding obesity that appeared in the HuffPost earlier in 2018, journalist Michael Hobbes found that since 1959, research has shown that 95 to 98 percent of all attempts to lose weight fail.
If dieting is the answer to all of our problems, then why do we have to keep starting a new diet every January? That's the question just one of these body positive and anti-diet culture memes asks, and it's one worth considering. There is nothing wrong with exercising, eating healthy, or anything else that makes people feel like their best selves. But there is something wrong with society constantly telling us we aren't enough. In 2019, I'm saying "f*ck that noise." And these 40 body positive quotes might just inspire others to do the same.
Diets Aren't the Cure
If diets were the answer, we wouldn't have to start them over and over and over again, hoping one time it will finally stick.
'Healthy' Doesn't Mean 'Diet'
Being fed up with diet culture doesn't mean being done with healthy eating. It means being done with fad diets and trying to measure up to societal ideals.
Heal the World
There are so many more important things to worry about than having "perfect" bodies. Let's change the game!
There's More to Life Than Dieting
Despite the messages we get from social media and the regular media, there's more to life than striving to be someone else.
Start a Revolution
Self-acceptance shouldn't be revolutionary, but in a world that constantly asks us to change, it kind of feels that way.
Who Profits Off of Body Hate?
When we feel bad about ourselves, who is that benefiting? It certainly isn't benefiting the women who are forced to put themselves down.
Diets Are a Losing Game
Diets seem so normal because we all talk about them so much. But why don't we ever talk about the fact that most of them don't work?
Free Some Space
Imagine everything we could each accomplish if we used some of that brain space we waste thinking about calories and diets.
There Is More to Talk About Than Diets
Interests, hobbies, ice cream flavors — they're all better conversation topics than rehashing the latest eating fad.
Opinions Don't Matter
It really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about someone's body. It only matters how we feel about ourselves.
Change Is Good
Our bodies were never meant to stay exactly the same. If pregnancy, age, time, or any other factor changes someone's body shape or size, that is normal.
Show Some Love
Many of us would never say or think mean things about others, so why do we do it to ourselves? We deserve love, too.
Focus on Healthy
What feels good? What creates joy? Focus on those things instead of trying to conform to what anyone else wants.
Numbers Don't Matter
We don't remember the greatest people in history for having the "right" kind of body. We remember them for being amazing human beings.
It's OK to Not Be OK
Being body positive doesn't mean never having doubts and insecurities. It just means not practicing self-judgment.
We Are Enough
We don't have to be different people to fit in. It's OK to be ourselves and to be proud of that.
Comparison Isn't Worth It
We shouldn't compare ourselves to Instagram models, Instagram moms, or even other body positive activists. Each of us is on our own journey.
Let Go of Guilt
Food is no fun when we spend every second wondering how many miles on the treadmill equal one cookie.
Beauty Is Being Comfortable
There's no one way to be beautiful. There are a million ways to be beautiful, and each of them is unique to each of us.
Food Is Joy
It's perfectly normal to love food and enjoy eating. It is not a bad thing!
'Fitness' Has a New Meaning
Fit doesn't need to mean thin or ripped. Fit can mean caring for one's self, doing things we enjoy, and being nourished by foods that we love.
We're Already 'Ideal'
What's ideal? Health and happiness is ideal, moreso than any weight or pants size.
Think Long Term
What does life look like in a decade, and do we all really want to spend it counting calories? Maybe not.
Love Leads to Love
Experts agree that shaming doesn't work. So why do we think that body shaming ourselves will lead to being happier and healthier?
Look Beyond Bodies
We only get one life. Maybe we don't need to spend it worried about how we look.
Health Is More Than Healthy Food
If we're forcing our bodies into doing things they don't want to do, we likely won't be happy, no matter how much kale and spaghetti squash we eat.
Celebrate the Now
Don't pledge to be better, thinner, prettier. Pledge to love everything that exists right now.
Isn't It Funny?
Why let someone else dictate what we're allowed to eat and how we're allowed to look? Make the rules!
Exercise Is Not Punishment
Exercise doesn't need to be something we force ourselves into as a way of paying for what we ate. Move in a way that feels good.
Make a Choice
We can't change the body we were born with. Why not give acceptance a shot?
Every Body Is Great
Society makes us feel all sort of ways about our bodies, but feeling less than perfect doesn't mean our bodies are actually imperfect.
Be a Little Self-Obsessed
It's OK to like — or even love — ourselves! How cool is that?
'Glo Up'
Sometimes the most important change we can make is accepting ourselves.
There Is No 'Right' Body
We don't all have thigh gaps for a reason, and that's because we all have different body types!
More Kindness
This doesn't just apply to other people. It also applies to the way we treat ourselves.
Take Up Space
There are so many more reasons to love other people and ourselves than just how we look on the outside.
Change the Culture
The recipe for a swimsuit body: Get a swimsuit, wear it. It really can be that simple.
Unfollow
Social media can be a force for good or a negative influence. If an account promotes stress or insecurity, drop it.
I Am a Babe
Fat is beautiful. Thin is beautiful. Curvy is beautiful. Muscular is beautiful. Chubby, small, big — it's all beautiful.
Be You
In conclusion, we each possess the capacity to do so much good and feel so much joy. Strive for that in the new year instead.
