Body positivity was meant to challenge weight stigma, not celebrate weight loss.

Care for the body does not have to mean shrinking it.

Weight loss can reinforce beliefs that keep eating disorders alive.

Health and worth are not determined by body size.

The question, "Can you lose weight and still be body positive?" has been coming up more often lately, especially as GLP-1 medications for weight loss have entered the mainstream and complicated already fraught conversations about bodies, health, and care.

On the surface, it sounds reasonable: People want to take care of themselves. Bodies change. Weight fluctuates. Wanting to feel better in your body is human.

But the question itself reveals something deeper. It reflects how tightly we have fused weight with worth, health, and virtue. And that fusion is exactly what body positivity was meant to challenge.

The honest answer is that it’s complicated. Context matters. But before trying to answer, it helps to revisit what body positivity was originally about.

What Body Positivity Was Meant to Be

Body positivity did not begin as a self-love slogan or a marketing campaign. It grew out of fat activism, led largely by fat, Black, and queer activists pushing back against anti-fat bias. At its core, it was about dignity, safety, and equal worth for people whose bodies are marginalized.

It was never about changing your appearance so you could finally feel good about yourself. It was about challenging systems that equate thinness with morality, health, and value.

As the concept moved into the mainstream, its edges softened. Today, it is often framed as confidence-building or personal transformation, sometimes centered on weight loss. When that happens, the original intent gets diluted. If body positivity only feels accessible when a body is shrinking, it stops disrupting the hierarchy and starts reinforcing it.

Care Does Not Have to Mean Shrinking

Many of us were taught early on that being healthy means being thinner. Over time, self-care and weight loss became intertwined.

But caring for the body does not have to mean shrinking it.

Eating regularly. Moving in ways that feel supportive rather than punishing. Managing stress. Getting enough rest. Taking medication when needed. Following up on labs. These are forms of care that can exist independent of weight loss.

When weight loss becomes the primary measure of success, it subtly reinforces the idea that a smaller body is a better body. That message does not disappear simply because it is packaged as empowerment.

Weight, Health, and Stigma

Weight and health are more complex than we have been led to believe. Many people improve blood pressure, blood sugar, and stamina through behavior change alone, regardless of what happens to the scale.

At the same time, weight stigma is real. Larger-bodied people often encounter dismissive care, delayed diagnoses, and biased assumptions. Those experiences themselves contribute to poorer health outcomes.

A body-positive approach to health does not ignore well-being. It insists that respectful, evidence-based care should not depend on body size.

What This Means in Eating Disorder Recovery

For individuals in eating disorder recovery, this conversation can be destabilizing.

When weight loss is framed as self-improvement or empowerment, it can blur important boundaries. For many people healing from anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, or chronic restriction, a renewed focus on weight can quietly reactivate old patterns of control, shame, and self-surveillance.

In eating disorder recovery, the goal is rarely to love how your body looks every day. The goal is peace: Peace with food. Relief from constant body checking. Freedom from the belief that life will finally begin once the body changes.

For many, body neutrality offers a steadier path than constant positivity. It means treating the body with respect without making appearance the central project of your life.

So, can someone lose weight and still identify as body positive? Perhaps. But when the focus remains on weight, we risk missing the larger point: Body positivity was never about celebrating weight loss. It was about dismantling the belief that worth must be earned through changing your body.

© Psychology Today