I felt like I was cheating on body positivity when I decided to start a GLP-1.
The various movements that fall under the umbrella of body positivity, especially Health at Every Size (HAES), were critical supports to my health and wellness as I healed from the pervasive impact of developmental trauma, dissociation, and addiction. None of that history changes now that I am on a GLP-1, even though making the decision to go on one has facilitated both a crisis in conscience and an awakening.
As I teach in so many aspects of my work, two things can be true at the same time.
And like with so many issues around health and trauma, we need to move away from binary assumptions in our thinking and dive into the points of nuance as we discuss all things embodiment. That is what I am making my first attempt to do in this interview with Brittany Rose, a GLP-1 content creator who I met through YouTube as part of my own mission to find the nuance in GLP-1 education.
I recognize that the title of the video may be activating for some of you who follow my work: “Does Trauma Cause Obesity?”
I don’t love the “O” word and I discuss in the interview how it is a contested term in many eating disorders, HAES, and fat activism spaces. And of course the interview is an exploration of how things are never that simple (yet I can understand Brittany’s savvy of titling the video the way she did to draw in more viewers). I hope that if you aren’t put off by it, you will hang around for what turned out to be a lively discussion that made me think even more about the kind of voice that I want to have on these topics of GLP-1, mental health, and embodiment. Because for me it is much more about listening to what my body is asking me to do in addressing her health concerns than aiming for a particular number on the scale. And doing what my body is asking of me may also require me to listen to paradigms I’ve been used to ignoring and challenging those I’ve held sacred for quite some time.
Since I am still therapeutically working on many things that being on a GLP-1 and losing significant weight has brought up for me, I am choosing not to share my whole story right now. It will happen when it is supposed to happen. Besides, the story is still actively unfolding. The video interview gives you some of the highlights, including the first time I’ve publicly discussed the health crisis that prompted me to reconsider my earlier positions.
I am not going to tell you how much weight I’ve lost, or post those side-by-side before and after pictures, because I personally find those triggering and not helpful when I see both influencers and friends do it. If you follow my socials and my videos, you’ll notice a difference if that matters to you.
If you are following my emerging story as one of tracking how my body physically looks, you are missing the whole story. And I thank Brittany for giving me the opportunity to speak to the layers for the GLP-1 community in my role as a trauma specialist, educator, and human sharing from my lived experience.
Much more to come…
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