I want to be clear.

My Body Acceptance is not an excuse for sitting on the couch and doing nothing. It’s not an excuse for eating nothing but french fries and pizza and pints of ice cream.

My Body Acceptance is about the fact that you don’t need an “excuse” to do those things. You are a grown ass adult, or otherwise autonomous party, and are free to eat or move (or not) without having to explain yourself to a third party. Body Acceptance is about doing what makes you— your body and your mind— feel good in whatever way is most right for you.

For some people that might mean eating in a way that is traditionally seen as “~healthy~.” Ratios of fats and calories and vegetables that are generally sanctioned by a bureaucratic agency or people on TV. Maybe engaging in the type of movement that makes you sweaty and is visible.

For other people, that’s going to look a whole lot different. It’s going to be calories consumed without scrutiny and moving in different ways that make them feel good— which might mean not at all.

It might mean a mix of the two, somewhere in between, or something completely different.

My Body Acceptance is about giving other people the space (and giving myself the permission) to listen to our own bodies and make the best decisions we can for them. It’s understanding that sometimes the best decisions might look like mistakes to other people, because it’s impossible to know all of the factors involved in those choices, and that it’s none of our business.

More importantly. My Body Acceptance is about making sure that the space I want for the decisions I make about my body doesn’t intrude on the space other people need.

Supporting without shaming, embodying without evangelizing, and generally keeping judgement out of the picture, even in the privacy of my own mind, to make sure that my dialogue about self-care doesn’t trigger, traumatize, or oppress anyone in the process of serving myself.