10 Body Positive Instagram Accounts to Follow

10 Body-Positive Instagram Accounts to Follow

Following more diverse bodies helps us all unlearn the falsehoods diet culture teaches us. Diet culture tries to tell us what it means to be fat in our society, but learning directly from the voices of those who live in a large body is far more important. Representation matters.

So if you need more body positive accounts that brighten your feed, make you feel good, or make you think, here are 10 accounts to follow.

Megan Jayne Crabbe @bodyposipanda

Megan is the bestselling author of Body Positive Power. Her account is a vibrant portrayal of her adventures in life and wonderful body positive messaging. Her outfits are stylish and her rainbow hair is symbolic of her bold feed. Megan is a survivor of an eating disorder and is sharing her light with the world through this account.

Ragen Chastain @ragenchastain

If you haven’t heard of Ragen Chastain, follow her right now. She is an accomplished dancer and athlete on top of being a speaker, writer, and activist. I’ve heard her speak in real life, and let me tell you, she is the real deal. Follow her for everything fat activism; you will not regret it. Some fun additional information on Ragen: she is currently training for her first ironman and holds the Guinness World Record for being the heaviest woman to complete a marathon.

Kimmie Singh, MS, RD @bodypositive_dietitian

Kimmie Singh is a relatively new RD and a knowledge bomb when it comes to Health at Every Size®. I had the amazing opportunity to hear this wonderful human speak at the Weight Inclusive Nutrition and Dietetics Symposium in Washington D.C. this past September. Kimmie really knows her stuff. Her Instagram messaging is both educational and warm. Follow for content relating to eating disorders, intuitive eating, and PCOS.

Brianna M Campos, LPC @bodyimagewithbri

Bri Campos is another wonderful human who I had the privilege of hearing speak at the Weight Inclusive Nutrition and Dietetics Symposium. If you are someone who appreciates an Instagram influencer who is active in posting to their story, Bri is your girl. Not only are her posts helpful, but her stories are real and raw as she shares her life as a body image coach and therapist. She adds some humanity to a space where lives are typically portrayed as being perfect, through the sharing of her own lived experiences.

Dr. Joshua Wolrich, MBBS, MRCS @drjoshuawolrich

This person is cool, he is a weight-inclusive surgical doctor for the NHS. His account is full of mythbusters as he addresses fatphobic messaging within the medical community. I have a lot of respect for this guy, as it’s typically more difficult to find medical doctors so with-it. If you like scientific details and Q&A’,s Dr. Joshua Wolrich is your next account to follow.

Virgie Tovar, MS @virgietovar

Virgie’s stylish feed packs a serious punch. Follow Virgie for empowering messaging that is also informative. Virgie is an expert in issues relating to weight-based discrimination and body image and is an awesome role model to have on anyone’s insta feed. As a personal recommendation, I LOVED reading You Have the Right to Remain Fat with my book club and 10/10 recommend any and all publications of hers’.

Corissa Enneking @fatgirlflow

We. Need. To. Follow. More. Diverse. Bodies. It is one of the ways we can unlearn and challenge the weight-biased ideas society has taught us about being in a large body. Corissa Enneking is a blogger into #plussizefashion. She has produced amazing content for some major media outlets designed to end the shame and stigma associated with living in a fat body. As an added bonus, her website has some seriously cool merchandise.

Your Fat Friend (anonymous essayist) @yrfatfriend

I don’t know anything about the individual who is the face behind Your Fat Friend, but whoever they are, is awesome. This is an account you can go to for instructive ideas around topics relating to weight bias. As a person in a thin body, I highly recommend this account to my thin bodied peers who want to be a better ally to someone who lives in a larger body.

Meg Boggs @meg.boggs

Are you a new mom? Do you like to work out? Do you appreciate talented writers? If you said yes to any of those questions this is the account for you. Meg kills it in the weight room and in motherhood. She is honest, she is brave, and she is strong. Meg is busting stereotypes, making moves, and taking names along the way.

I Weigh @i_weigh

As described in the bio of this account, “I Weight is about radical inclusivity, so that no one feels alone.” If you are a fan of Jameela Jamil, follow this account. If you’ve never heard of Jameela Jamil, follow this account. This is a place designed to get a person thinking about their own lived experiences and privileges while challenging cultural norms. It is an account that reminds us that we all have room for growth.

Happy following!

Your Intuitive Eating Journey – a Letter to Your Loved One

Intuitive Eating Letter to Your Loved One

Embarking on the journey of intuitive eating can feel like a lonely and difficult road – especially when the world around you seems to be on a diet. Loved ones can remain locked into diet culture through no fault of their own. Let’s not forget and respect the fact that you and I were once there too.

It can be most difficult when your own loved ones question or even criticise your journey. It’s usually only because they care about your health. So how do you master telling them about your journey, without them assuming that you’ve just let yourself go?

To make that easier, I’ve drafted an Intuitive Eating letter that you can adapt and share with your loved ones. It goes like this…

“Dear…

You may have noticed that I have been eating differently over the last few weeks/months. I am embarking on a new journey that moves away from my old ways of eating and thinking about food. For X years/months I have been on and off of various different diets. This has been affecting me not only physically, but emotionally/mentally too.

I’m done with [delete or insert as appropriate] tearing myself apart, despising my body, my weight yo-yo-ing up and down and steadily increasing with every diet I try, restricting my eating and then binge eating, punishing myself for eating certain foods, eating differently to others, not enjoying food, being bound by rules to tell me what, when and how much to eat and not being able to trust myself to eat naturally and normally.

I’ve hit rock bottom. I simply need to do something different.

I am embarking on a new and kinder journey that focuses on my health and healthy habits, rather than body size and weight loss. My health or my worth is not determined by a number on the scales. I am working with a Registered Dietitian who is specialised in helping me through these difficulties (a specialist intuitive eating coach).

I am learning that the restrictions I placed on myself were fuelling my eating problems. They were turning me away from being kind and respecting my body and ultimately improving my health and happiness. I have also learned that the yo-yo-ing of my weight is actually linked to a higher risk of heart disease. The stress I faced most days around food and my body was not doing my mental health any good and it was distracting me from more important things in my life…[you could provide examples here].

My weight may fluctuate on this journey, and this does not mean that I am neglecting my health. You may even see me eating foods that I would previously have avoided or restricted myself from eating. Like cake and sausages! I am learning that eating a wide variety of different foods is healthy for my body and soul. I am learning that eating a salad does not make me healthy, and equally eating a cake does not make me unhealthy. I am learning to honour my hunger, respect my fullness, identify what foods actually satisfy me (versus what I think I ‘should’ be eating), reduce emotional eating and to separate my worth from my appearance – amongst many other things.

If my weight increases, that’s a sign that I am nourishing my body with an adequate amount of food for me. It’s a sign that I was previously eating in a way that was too restrictive for my body.

I understand that these concepts may be difficult to understand and may go against your own beliefs. They have been challenging for me too, but also make a lot of sense. I don’t expect you to fully understand my journey and I am pleased you’ve not had to experience the difficulties I have been through. I wouldn’t wish them on anyone.

Whilst I know you want to support me, and are concerned for my health, making comments on my food choices and my body [insert whatever actions they are taking in a compassionate way] makes me feel unsettled, and unsupported [use an emotional word wheel to help elicit feelings]. What I need from you is [insert needs…] some understanding, and respect for the journey that I am on. This is so that I can improve my relationship with food, my body and ultimately improve my health, without judgement, criticism or distraction. This might look like [insert examples of what you request… ]not commenting on my body or food choices, and listening to what I am going through, without sharing your opinion.

Love …

x”

This work is hard and being questioned or criticised by loved ones can make it even harder. You can’t expect they will understand it all at once (or at all) and it’s important to respect their concerns for your health. After all, they may not know any different at this stage. The most you can do is lead by example, educate and if any difficult questions arise, pass them onto me and I can help with a response.

You’ve got this. Go easy on yourself.

What is reliable nutrition information?

The internet and social media are some of the most powerful tools at our disposal when it comes to answering nutrition questions. However, one thing we often find challenging is how to separate who is posting reliable nutrition information and who is not.

Instagram is a rapidly growing social platform. To give you some frightening statistics, 35% of the UK population are spending an average of 5 minutes per day using it (1). With a booming and unregulated ‘wellness industry’.

Instagram appears to be a particularly thriving breeding place for unqualified (and sometimes qualified) individuals who are irresponsibly communicating poor quality health information. Whilst Registered Dietitians and qualified healthcare professionals are governed by law to uphold standards, the wellness industry is actually unregulated. This means anyone can post about nutrition information.

Social media also given rise to a social media-based healthy eating community (2), who have been identified to have a higher prevalence of Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) (3) (an obsession with eating foods that one considers healthy). Higher Instagram use has identified to be linked to increased ON symptoms.

For individuals using social media platforms, there is limited guidance on how to sift through and eliminate poor quality and irresponsible nutrition information. In this article, I am going to outline, with examples, how you as a consumer can ensure you are engaging in both responsible and reliable nutrition information on social media.

“the wellness industry is actually unregulated. This means anyone can post about nutrition information.”

But how can qualified professionals be posting irresponsibly?

During undergraduate training of healthcare professionals, there is little formal training in how to communicate effectively and responsibly to wider audiences on social platforms such as Instagram. This is of no disrespect to the training. It’s because Instagram is a fairly new and rapidly growing platform that was only established in 2010.

There has been some guidance published for professional (4, 5), however, Instagram has moved forward since then, and whilst these guidelines for professional are useful, they are not rigorous. This means that not only are non-qualified individuals posting irresponsibly, qualified professionals don’t always get it right either.

I have therefore, created this article to help direct you when reading nutrition information on social media.

Responsible communication refers to communication that is appropriate, honest, trustworthy and respects confidentiality (5). Below are examples and checkpoints that outline what to look out for when engaging in nutrition content on social media.

1. Is the content backed up by good quality science?

Content sometimes states “research says” or reports on a single study to make claims. Every claim, argument or opinion should be supported and justified by credible evidence from research or other authoritative sources. This doesn’t mean formal reference techniques need to be used at all times (especially in places like Instagram), however, the content should state what we know, what we don’t know, and how this could be looked at in the wider context of health and nutrition.

A subtle example: “true Iron deficiency will usually show over time”. (This statement needs expanding and evidence to support the claims. How long? How do you know?)

Ask yourself:

Is it clear what sources of information were used to write that content?
Have they given a balanced view? E.g. have they highlighted areas of uncertainty.
Have they provided details of where to access additional information? e.g. links in the Instagram bio, text below the image or references beneath?

2. Does the content sound like they are diagnosing your problem?

Responsible and reliable nutrition information should enable you to choose what is in your best interest. Information that has the direct objective of providing you with advice, needs to be honest, informative, clear and realistic, and not use language which exaggerates or makes assumptions (examples below).

Subtle examples:

“the most common symptoms of Iron deficiency include; fatigue, weakness, pale skin”. (These symptoms could be a result of so many other things too. It is therefore, unbalanced as it has not been highlighted that these symptoms could be from a whole host of other conditions. It could also be perceived as diagnosing your problem, when there could be a whole host of other things going on. It is, therefore incomplete and could be misleading. It has also not been referenced and does not direct you on where to find further information.)

“If you are eating X on most days, you will be doing wonders for your health”. (This statement is misleading and unbalanced. Some people with certain conditions may not be able to eat that certain food, so this statement is too personal).

Ask yourself:

Is the information shared a personal opinion, being presented as fact? (how do they know? what evidence do they have to support this?). This should be clear.
Is the language they are using to communicate facts or recommendations balanced? Do they deliberately chose words that exaggerate or bring out emotion? (e.g. “doing wonders”)

3. Is it within their professional remit?

When sharing nutrition and information and dishing out claims, it is crucial that the author only provides statements that sit within their professional remit and not beyond the boundaries of their qualifications/expertise.

How to know if they are qualified?

You can look at their years of experience, and qualifications in the field. Is the nutritionist a member of a professional body like the British Association for Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) or the Association for Nutrition (AfN)? Is the Dietitian registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and a member of the British Dietetic Association (BDA)? Do they have any industry awards or have they contributed to scientific research? They should not be reluctant to share this information with you. This information is also accessible online.

A subtle example: Dietitian or nutritionist sharing their workout routine on Instagram, or in their stories, for others to replicate.

Ask yourself:

Have they made it clear that they are not qualified and therefore not providing guidance?
Are they open to sharing their qualifications and experience with you? They should not be hesitant about sharing this information.

4. Do they link their body or looks up with messages about health?

Platforms like Instagram are image-focused, which play to the ‘picture-superiority effect’, whereby images are more likely to be remembered than words (6). It’s also a platform where you can select what images you are exposed to. The limited exposure of such images can lead us to believe that one behaviour is more present or normal than is actually the case. This may lead to perceived social pressures to act similarly to such behaviours. Therefore, individuals posting images of only healthy looking food, unbalanced meals, and tying up photo’s of ‘healthy food’ to the ‘thin ideal’ body (e.g. holding a green smoothie posing in a bikini with a think cultural ‘ideal’ body), can be misleading and lead us to believe that we need to behave that way to become something like the image.

Ask yourself:

How does the post make you feel? If it doesn’t make you feel good about yourself, unfollow.
Are there different types of foods in their feed that are reflective of a balanced diet?
Do they regularly cut out large food groups?
Do they promote balance but don’t eat carbs?
Do they push unrealistic body standards?
Do they talk about ‘real food’ or ‘clean eating’?

Summary

Whilst reliable information can sometimes be hard to comeby, it is out there I promise. You just have to have your witts about you, and surround yourself with the right people on social media. This guidance was aimed to give you a more in depth perspective on how to detect bulls**t and sift out reliable nutrition information, finishing up with some suggestions on who to follow on social media. You can follow me on instagram @nudenutritionrd or check out some of my latest blogs below for some more nonsense stripping!

Comments, feedback and suggestions welcome!

Additional suggestions/recommendations

If you are not sure or confused by the content you see, then ask. If they cannot come back to you with more information or the evidence, then unfollow! You can’t control the media, but you do have a say in what you consume.
If you are really not sure about a claim you see, there is an amazing charity called Sense About Science who have set up a campaign called ‘Ask for Evidence’. Ask them for the evidence.
Have you read a headline you are not sure about? The British Nutrition Foundation responds to consultations of major public health importance on a range of food and nutrition-related topics.
NHS choices simplify health topics with a balanced approach, breaking down the research studies with links to more information.
Nude Nutrition – send in your requests and have your questions answered and nutrition nonsense stripped, in particular on Instagram @nudenutritionrd
I have recently been recognised by The WellSpoken Mark to be making a positive impact on the ‘wellness’ industry. They are an independent authority committed to leading high standards in the currently unregulated wellness industry. Anyone else you see holding this mark can be deemed as reliable and trustworthy.
The Rooted Project – funded by two Registered Dietitians, this is an event series set up where they choose speakers who are leaders in their field to translate the science into interesting and practical content.
British Dietetics Association – Tons of food fact sheets written by Registered Dietitians to help you learn the best ways to eat well and stay healthy.

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