What I Learned About Body Positivity During Thanksgiving | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Featured

What I Learned About Body Positivity During Thanksgiving

Has anyone else been in a food coma and in a few hours totally regretted it?

2080
What I Learned About Body Positivity During Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday, and in my house it was filled with numerous delicious treats. My aunts made it their mission to cook every possible Thanksgiving food: turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing; you name it, they made it. And it was fantastic. That was, until I thought about all the food I just ate, and what that meant for my body.

In past Thanksgivings, this hasn't really been a thought that even crossed my mind, but being in college, staying healthy has been harder than it was in high school. I don't have parents to guide my food choices or mandatory sports practices to attend on the daily. This means my body is changing, and maybe not for the better. That's really hard to accept.

So, naturally, after gorging myself on amazing Thanksgiving food, my immediate thought is How should I balance this out? Do I work out tomorrow, or just eat a little less? And it was truly an awful feeling; the more I thought about how much I ate, the worse I felt about myself and my body. The question I should've asked myself, but did not, was: do I feel guilty because I feel unhealthy or because I don't feel slim? In hindsight, I was definitely more focused on the latter.

Fortunately, I came across a post my friend put on their Instagram story. It was titled "For the one who regrets what they ate on Thanksgiving…" (so it really resonated with me), and brought up two eye-opening points: one, that "food is meant to be eaten", and two, that "your body is meant to carry memories, not regret."

Those two sentiments were really powerful to me, and as I later learned, it's because it highlighted the difference between body positivity and body neutrality.

What's the difference, you might ask? Well, body positive is a movement that started about ten years ago, centered around the idea that "all bodies are beautiful". It pushes for more realistic beauty standards and loving the body you have, along with its daily changes and fluctuations.

This is different from body neutrality, which is a mindset that focuses on what your body can do, and attempts to appreciate it from a more neutral perspective. As Chelsea Kronengold, an associative director at the National Eating Disorders Association, puts it, "The body positive movement urges people to love their bodies no matter what they look like, whereas body neutrality focuses on what your body can do for you rather than what it actually looks like".

Though it may seem like an either/or decision, I think embracing both perspectives can have its benefits. It is important to see your body neutrally so you don't place all your value on your appearance, but this perspective isn't entirely realistic (at least, not for me; I will always care about my appearance, no matter how much I don't want to) and brushes over able-bodied privileges. It is equally important to love your body, and what it looks like, in terms of self-confidence and acceptance. But this can also easily lead to guilt if you start to resent your body. So while both have their drawbacks, I find them extremely useful, especially when thought of in harmony.

What I learned from this Thanksgiving is that loving my body and the memories it carries is important.

I am amazing and beautiful, no matter what my body looks like. However, if I come to a point where I am struggling to love my body, I can at least appreciate its abilities, such as my ability to eat my aunts' scrumptious food. It's definitely not easy, but try to embrace living with your body to the fullest, whether that means absolutely loving it, or simply appreciating it. Or maybe a little of both.

Report this Content
Gilmore Girls
Hypable

In honor of Mother’s Day, I have been thinking of all the things my mom does for my family and me. Although I couldn’t write nearly all of them, here are a few things that moms do for us.

They find that shirt that’s right in front of you, but just you can’t seem to find.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons To Thank Your Best Friend

Take the time to thank that one friend in your life you will never let go of.

1233
Thank You on wooden blocks

1. Thank you for being the one I can always count on to be honest.

A true friend will tell you if the shirt is ugly, or at least ask to borrow it and "accidentally" burn it.

2. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

A best friend will love you regardless of the stale french fries you left on the floor of your car, or when you had lice in 8th grade and no one wanted to talk to you.

Keep Reading...Show less
sick student
StableDiffusion

Everybody gets sick once in a while, but getting sick while in college is the absolute worst. You're away from home and your mom who can take care of you and all you really want to do is just be in your own bed. You feel like you will have never-ending classwork to catch up on if you miss class, so you end up going sick and then it just takes longer to get better. Being sick in college is really tough and definitely not a fun experience. Here are the 15 stages that everyone ends up going through when they are sick at college.

Keep Reading...Show less
kid
Janko Ferlic
Do as I say, not as I do.

Your eyes widen in horror as you stare at your phone. Beads of sweat begin to saturate your palm as your fingers tremble in fear. The illuminated screen reads, "Missed Call: Mom."

Growing up with strict parents, you learn that a few things go unsaid. Manners are everything. Never talk back. Do as you're told without question. Most importantly, you develop a system and catch on to these quirks that strict parents have so that you can play their game and do what you want.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends
tv.com

"Friends" maybe didn’t have everything right or realistic all the time, but they did have enough episodes to create countless reaction GIFs and enough awesomeness to create, well, the legacy they did. Something else that is timeless, a little rough, but memorable? Living away from the comforts of home. Whether you have an apartment, a dorm, your first house, or some sort of residence that is not the house you grew up in, I’m sure you can relate to most of these!

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments