Ignoring internal hunger or fullness cues in favor of rigid tracking apps.
When these two philosophies merge, they create a sustainable, compassionate lifestyle. This intersection relies on several core principles that shift the focus from external validation to internal harmony. 1. Health at Every Size (HAES) Ignoring internal hunger or fullness cues in favor
By treating your body as an ally instead of an ornament, you create a foundation for health that lasts a lifetime. You’re no longer "failing" if the scale doesn't
When movement is decoupled from weight loss, it becomes sustainable. You’re no longer "failing" if the scale doesn't move; you’re succeeding because you’re reducing stress, improving heart health, and gaining strength. 2. Intuitive Eating: Nourishment Over Numbers creating new hierarchies of “virtuous” bodies
Diet culture teaches us to rely on external rules—clocks, apps, and calorie counts—to decide when and what to eat. Combining body positivity with wellness introduces intuitive eating, a framework created by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.
In the last decade, two powerful cultural movements have dominated Western social discourse: Body Positivity and the Wellness Lifestyle . On the surface, they appear to be natural allies. Body positivity advocates for self-love and the rejection of stigmatizing based on physical appearance, while wellness promotes vitality, mental health, and longevity. However, a deeper examination reveals a fundamental tension. Body positivity challenges the moralization of body size, while wellness often centers on discipline, optimization, and the implicit pursuit of an “ideal” physique. This paper argues that while body positivity and wellness can coexist through a paradigm of Health at Every Size (HAES), the mainstream commercialized wellness industry frequently undermines body positivity by reinforcing diet culture, creating new hierarchies of “virtuous” bodies, and shifting anxiety from weight to general biological function.
When you strip away commercial diet culture, body positivity and wellness naturally align. True wellness requires taking care of your body. True body positivity requires respecting your body enough to care for it.