“It’s all for my mental health”: Lizzo Doesn’t “Ever want to be thin” as She Loves Her Body
Lizzo is famous for having consistent, powerful energy. She always gives it her all, whether it’s twerking to the newest song on social media or entertaining us on her Special Tour. Recently, the celebrity used TikTok to talk openly about losing weight and what it really means for her and her self-image.
She has committed her life to encouraging other women to have the same level of body acceptance and love that she does. Through her efforts, she has provided countless anthems and inspirational sayings to keep her followers moving in the direction of greater body positivity.
The Grammy winner said, “It definitely comes with time,” when speaking to Us Weekly four years ago.
Well, she does what she does best: she acts as a gentle reminder that accepting oneself shouldn’t ever be radical; rather, it should be a natural choice. We only have one life to live. So, why do we want to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves all day?
A Message From Lizzo About Losing Weight
Lizzo rejects the culture of ‘escaping fatness’ promoted by the weight-loss industry, and you should too.
The Special singer reacted to a TikTok video on Monday from another user (@tiffriahgrande) that discussed the experiences of fat people in the fitness industry. This was, in particular, the opinion of onlookers who believed their only fitness goal had to be to lose weight. It’s not, and Lizzo had a lot to contribute to the discussion.
According to @tiffriahgrande’s video, an overweight person should be able to exercise without anyone assuming they are trying to lose weight. The creator of YITTY found that line to be true, and she boldly repeated it. “Heavy on the not trying to escape fatness.” She said in her edited video, “Heavy f*cking on it.”
She added:
“I think a lot of people see a fat person that way and immediately just assume everything they are doing is to be thin. I’m not trying to be thin. I don’t ever want to be thin.”
Although her ‘high-performance’ job is physically demanding, Lizzo emphasized that she never attempts to lose weight, even when she performs on stage for say, 90 minutes. Instead, she referred to her fitness philosophy as “holistic,” and she was careful to avoid using the term “health conscious“.
This Belief Is Rooted From Fat Phobia
It’s understandable why TikToker was seeking support on the video-sharing platform: she made an actual and incredibly common assumption.
The underlying presumption is that being plus-sized is unattractive and unhealthy by nature. This is a misconception as well as a blatant example of diet culture and ‘fat phobia’ in particular. People can be healthy at any size, and no body type is inherently superior to another.
Do some plus-sized people work out to lose weight? Yes. But assuming that this is the intention of every plus-size gym goer is neither fair nor accurate. People do exercise for a variety of reasons, including the advantages to mental health that Lizzo mentioned:
“Embracing the fact that your body changes, that’s a part of it, and making sure that [the mind] is what we have the power over. Everything I eat, everything I do, every time I move my body, it’s all for mental health. If this ain’t happy, none of this is happy.”
Lizzo concluded by advising her audience to “work on themselves from the inside out.”
Simply put, you cannot draw any conclusions about someone’s level of health or fitness based solely on their appearance. We applaud Lizzo for highlighting this crucial point. The 35-year-old rapper, singer, and actress has always been a strong supporter of body positivity, particularly for plus-sized women of color.
More than anything, Lizzo wants to dispel the myth that fat people only exercise to lose weight.
