Why You Might Want To Embrace Body Neutrality In Your Workouts
If you’re overwhelmed with constantly thinking about your body—the things you love, hate, and are a work in progress—body neutrality might speak to you. It’s a measured approach to body image that's all about embracing what your body can do and acknowledging that, sometimes, your feelings about it might be complicated.
“For many years, the eating disorders field has pushed for body positivity, but sometimes it’s very difficult and unrealistic to go totally in that direction,” says Kelly Allison, PhD, director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at Penn Medicine. “Body neutrality is born from years of trying to achieve body positivity and realizing the challenges that lie therein.”
Essentially, body neutrality is “more of a middle ground” compared to body positivity where you’re not picking your appearance apart, but not feeling pressure to say you love every single piece of your body, Allison says. “That just may not ring true for everyone for various reasons,” Allison says.
Meet the experts: Hillary Ammon, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist at the Center for Anxiety & Women’s Emotional Wellness. Kelly Allison, PhD is director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at Penn Medicine. Janet Lydecker, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Kelli Rugless, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, eating disorder specialist, and founder of Flourish Psychology. Sohee Lee, CSCS, is a fitness coach and member of the WH advisory board.
Body image terms are constantly evolving, and body neutrality isn’t necessarily a perfect concept. However, the approach has a growing group of followers who say it’s a better pathway toward a more authentic and realistic body image—and it's even being embraced by personal trainers to help clients stay motivated on their fitness journeys.
So, what is body neutrality, how is it different from a body-positive approach, and what does it look like in action? Here's what psychology and body image experts have to say.
What is body neutrality and how is it different from body positivity?
At baseline, body neutrality is an approach to body image. “The concept of body neutrality encourages individuals to appreciate the functions of their body and discourages judgment of one’s physical features,” says Hillary Ammon, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Anxiety and Women’s Emotional Wellness. Judgments can include things like “I hate my cellulite” and “I love my stretch marks”—but those don’t have a place in body neutrality, Ammon says.
With body neutrality, you’re encouraged to simply respect your body and accept it, even if you’re not 100 percent down with the way it looks, says Allison.
One way to find that respect and acceptance for your body is to focus on what it does for you, says Kelli Rugless, PsyD, founder of Flourish Psychology and chief clinical officer of Project HEAL. “A body positive statement would be ‘I love my body. I love my cellulite. I love my scars. I love it, and it’s beautiful,’” says Rugless. Meanwhile, a body neutral statement would sound a little more like, “I accept my body and I appreciate all that it does for me on a daily basis to reach my goals,” she says. Ideally, with body neutrality, you can remember that your body is more than just how it appears—it’s something that does a lot for you every single day.
Though “neutral” is in the name, body neutrality leaves room for you to feel bad about your body too (hey, you’re human! It happens). It isn’t just about pretending you don’t have negative thoughts about your appearance, it’s more of a method of moving past, or neutralizing, them. “You can come to neutrality by remembering that it’s not all bad,” says Rugless.
Pros And Cons Of Body Neutrality
When you can achieve body neutrality, “you stop beating yourself up for not achieving an ideal that society puts out there, or that we put on yourself,” Allison says. Instead, body neutrality puts value on what your body can do for you. “That may be being able to walk up and down stairs or being able to run a marathon,” she says. “Whatever it is that your body does on a day-to-day basis that you can value is important.”
But body neutrality has its drawbacks, too; asking someone to be "neutral" about their body is easier said than done given the world's (largely unhelpful) rhetoric about body image. And, given that body neutrality is heavily focused on the body’s function and ability, it has the potential to alienate those with disabilities or chronic health conditions.
Overall, some people may simply prefer (and benefit from) a body positive approach, Allison says. “People do think about their appearance, and it’s natural to think about presenting ourselves in a way we want to be seen,” she says. In other words, for people who struggle with appreciating and celebrating their bodies, neutrality might not make much of a difference for their self-esteem. “It may be better for somebody to say, ‘I want to work on my body positivity,’” Allison says.
How To Work Toward Body Neutrality
Experts stress that achieving body neutrality isn’t an overnight thing. However, there are a few steps you can take to work toward it. Here's how to start:
Pay attention to your thoughts.
Pull out a mental stop sign if you find yourself picking apart your outfit or criticizing your body, Allison suggests. “Remind yourself to be in the moment so you can enjoy whatever experience you’re having and not get caught up in your thoughts,” she says. Mindfulness exercises and even a bit of pleasant distraction (think: watching TV while you're getting ready instead of fixating on the mirror) can help you be more gentle with yourself.
Think about what your body does for you.
Instead of focusing on appearance, consider your body's abilities instead. This can be super basic, like appreciating how your legs allow you to walk to your favorite coffee shop or the way your arms help you embrace your S.O. It can take some "retraining" to think about your body in a new way, says Janet Lydecker, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, but it's possible.
Practice gratitude.
The concept of gratitude can seem overhyped these days, but there’s a reason why the term keeps coming up. “One thing we’ll do for patients who are very fixated on the look or shape of their bodies is to encourage them to think about one thing they’re thankful that their body lets them do,” Lydecker says. Body-focused gratitude exercises might help improve body image and potentially reduce internalized weight bias, research suggests—so, it could be worth a try.
Think about something other than your body.
Part of being neutral about your body means thinking about it less. Take it from Jameela Jamil, a celeb who practices body neutrality, who says she simply gets a lot more done when she’s not thinking about her appearance, whether it’s positive or negative. Instead of staring in the mirror and obsessing a la that one scene from Mean Girls, go for a walk, talk to a loved one, or read a book. Interrupt your thoughts with something else.
How Body Neutrality Can Change Your Workouts
For those who spend a lot of time in the gym, body neutrality might be a way to shake up your relationship with health and fitness. “Body neutrality could be really helpful in the fitness world,” says Rugless. “Movement and fitness play such an invaluable role in our mental health in terms of improving our mood and boosting our confidence, but one way it can subtract from all those benefits is when folks become way too focused on appearance and body modification.”
For this reason, some fitness coaches are body neutral—meaning that they focus on how you feel and what your progress is in the gym more than things like before and after photos or your fluctuating measurements. A body neutral coach cares more about if you’re feeling energized and strong, and if you’re beating your PRs, says Sohee Lee, CSCS, a coach and WH advisory board member. “I don’t care about that roll of belly fat you’ve been upset over,” she says. And, by not paying too much attention to it, she hopes her clients will see that they don’t need to worry about the appearance of different parts of their body.
With a body neutral coach, the focus will be more on health and function, without spending too much time dwelling on aesthetics. “It's way more important to emphasize healthy behaviors and not get fixated on what body size someone is because, as we've come to learn, being healthy does not have one certain look or body size,” Lee says. In order to do this, she recommends curating your social feed and avoiding “fitspo” which can be demotivating or negatively impact your mental health, focusing on how you feel while exercising instead of how many calories you burn, and prioritizing movement that you enjoy.
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