Is the body positivity movement dead thanks to GLP-1s?
I have seen this sentiment buzzing in health and fitness circles lately, and not just quietly in the background. I’m seeing this growing conversation around GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, and what their skyrocketing popularity means for the way we think about bodies, health, and self-worth.
As someone who’s coached hundreds of people through their health journeys, I’ve seen it all. The scale-obsessed dieters, the radical self-love enjoyers, and the people just trying to feel better in their skin without getting swept up in trends. Fitness trends have come and gone, and come back around. I have seen a lot.
Lately, I am seeing more and more discussions that effectively amount to:
“Is the body positivity movement dead thanks to GLP-1s?”
It’s a fair question on the surface. On one hand, we’ve spent the last decade making space for every body type, calling out unrealistic beauty standards, challenging toxic fitness culture, and embracing the idea that health doesn’t have to look a certain way.
On the other, we’re now seeing a massive shift. Highly effective weight-loss medications are being embraced not just for diabetes management, but as fast-tracked solutions for dropping pounds, and reshaping bodies.
Many influencers who were supposedly the vanguard of the body positivity movement are now unrecognisable from their former selves. Does this mean they were just faking it, and now that there is an “easy option” to losing weight, they have just dumped the body positivity message?
Where does that leave the body positivity movement? Is it being pushed aside by a newer, more pharmaceutical-driven version of wellness? Are we witnessing the end of an era, or simply entering a new chapter where weight loss and self-acceptance try to coexist?
As a coach, I want to explore this with you. This is as much an article for me to explore and formalise my thoughts as it is for you to explore this topic yourself. I am going to try to come at this not from a place of hype or judgment, as I so often see online, but with curiosity, context, and a whole lot of experience (if I do say so myself).
Anyway, let’s dig in.
The Evolution of the Body Positivity Movement
Before we can even begin to answer whether the body positivity movement is dead, we need to understand where it came from, and what it was really trying to do.
Most people think body positivity started on Instagram or social media in general, but its roots go much deeper. The movement was born out of fat activism and civil rights advocacy in the 1960s and ’70s, led by people with larger bodies who were fighting against weight discrimination in healthcare, employment, and everyday life.
When it went mainstream in the 2010s, we saw a flood of empowering messages: “All bodies are good bodies.” “You don’t have to change to be worthy.” It was certainly a necessary pushback to decades of diet culture, thin-centric fitness marketing, and the idea that being smaller automatically meant being healthier or better.
This was right at the start of my career in all of this health and fitness stuff, and I saw a lot of this happen in real time. The fitness industry went from being hyper-focused on only showcasing certain types of bodies, and slowly but surely started to showcase that different bodies could actually engage in health and fitness. Shocking, I know. That shift in marketing likely opened so many doors for people who had been excluded or shamed by the fitness industry for years.
Enter: Health at Every Size (HAES)
Alongside the body positivity movement, a framework called Health at Every Size (or HAES) started gaining traction. HAES is a weight-inclusive, evidence-based approach to health that focuses on behaviour change rather than weight change. It’s not about saying everyone is automatically healthy, but rather that people can pursue health and well-being from where they are, regardless of their size.
The core principles of HAES include:
- Respect for body diversity
- Access to respectful, bias-free healthcare
- Eating in a flexible, attuned way that honours hunger and satiety
- Joyful movement, focusing on how activity feels, not just calories burned
But here’s where the confusion kicks in.
Many people hear “Health at Every Size” and assume it means “everyone is healthy at every size.” That’s not what the framework is about. It’s not a blanket statement, it’s a philosophy that health can be approached without weight loss as the central goal. The distinction matters, especially now as we see the pendulum swinging back toward weight-centric approaches like GLP-1s.
In my coaching experience, HAES has been a helpful lens. I’ve worked with clients who had less body fat and a stereotypically “good” physique, who have had incredibly poor health habits. I’ve also worked with clients with much larger bodies who actually engaged in a lot of incredibly healthy habits, and weren’t seen as healthy, purely due to their size.
That’s why I don’t make assumptions based on size, and why I encourage my clients not to either.
(I will be coming back to this topic later on, so do keep it in mind)
From Liberation to Mainstream Messaging
Of course, like any movement that gains popularity, body positivity became a bit watered down once it went mainstream. It was picked up by brands, influencers, and ad campaigns that wanted to be seen as “inclusive”, but didn’t always carry the deeper message. Over time, “self-love” started looking a lot like another aesthetic ideal. It was idealised and idolised.
Still, it likely did help a lot of people. It gave people permission to opt out of chronic dieting. It gave people a better language for challenging the circumstances they were in. For many, it was the first step toward feeling more at peace in their bodies rather than actually hating themselves (which is a good thing, in case you were wondering).
Now, with the rise of powerful medications that can change the way your body looks and feels, in a relatively rapid amount of time, a lot of people are left wondering: What happens to a movement rooted in acceptance when changing your body becomes easier than ever?
The GLP-1 Revolution
If body positivity was a cultural rebellion against “weight-focused health”, then GLP-1 medications almost feel like the opposite. They are a modern, medicalised return to fast-track weight loss, and a lot of people think they have exposed the body positivity movement as a fraud.
What even are GLP-1s?
GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone naturally produced in your gut. It plays a key role in regulating appetite, blood sugar, and insulin response. GLP-1 receptor agonists are medications that mimic this hormone, helping people feel full faster, eat less, and in many cases, people lose a significant amount of weight while on them. They were originally developed to help people with type 2 diabetes, but researchers noticed a powerful side effect of sustained weight loss.
Fast forward to now, and names like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are commonplace in news headlines, social media feeds and likely even discussions with your friends. These drugs are being prescribed not just for diabetes, but increasingly for people who are overweight or obese, and even those without major metabolic issues. In some cases, they’re being used off-label by individuals who simply want to lose weight, with or without clinical need (hello Hollywood, we see you!).
Why the Buzz?
A few reasons:
- They work. We’re seeing weight losses of 10%, 15%, and even 20% of total body weight in some cases. That’s a big deal in the world of obesity medicine.
- They’ve got medical backing. This isn’t some random cleanse, detox or weird supplement. These are FDA-approved, doctor-prescribed interventions.
- They target appetite, not willpower. For people who’ve spent their lives struggling with food obsession or emotional eating, not feeling huge hunger pangs feels like a massive relief.
- The cultural moment. Social media is flooded with dramatic “before and afters,” celebrity rumours, and viral TikToks talking about the “skinny shot.” And whether we like it or not, the message being absorbed by many is: Thin is cool and with Ozempic, you can get there faster with less effort.
As a coach, I’ve had clients whisper to me, “Should I be taking this?” or “Everyone at work is on Ozempic, should I be too?”
The Catch
Here’s the thing: GLP-1s may be powerful, but they’re not magic.
- They don’t teach behaviour change.
- They don’t build muscle, increase strength or improve fitness.
- They don’t address mindset, lifestyle, or emotional patterns around food.
In fact, many people experience side effects like nausea, fatigue, and muscle loss if they’re not intentionally supporting their body with movement, protein, resistance training and all of the health habits we discuss all the time.
Unfortunately, many people still think that simply losing weight will solve all of their issues and magically make them healthy. In some cases, for sure, health will improve, but this is not a panacea. You also have to ask yourself, “What happens when I stop taking it?”
A New Tool, But Not a Replacement
In my practice, I don’t villainise GLP-1s, but I don’t romanticise them either. They’re a tool, just like weight training, meal planning, therapy, sleep optimisation or supplements. If a client chooses to use them, I coach around it. We focus on building a foundation of habits that can last, whether the medication is part of the picture long-term or not.
But you do still have to question the why behind the decision to lose weight. Is it what they actually need to be healthier? Is it just an ideal that has been thrust upon them? Is it actually going to help them to accomplish the goals they have set for themselves? Is it actually going to help them improve their relationship with themselves?
The Cultural Collision: GLP-1s vs. Body Positivity
Now, what makes this discussion unique is how quickly the pendulum is swinging due to the introduction of GLP-1s. For years, we celebrated body diversity and pushed back on the obsession with thinness. Now, with a weekly injection and a doctor’s note, the “ideal body” is suddenly being redefined again.
Over the past decade, the body positivity movement has helped a lot of people unlearn the idea that their worth is tied to their weight. We saw huge cultural changes, with clothing brands expanding their sizing, media campaigns featuring more diverse bodies, and people started saying things like, “I’m working out to feel strong, not to lose weight.”
But now, GLP-1 medications have entered the picture with a powerful, seductive message:
What if you could lose weight easily and quickly… without all the struggle?
That message hits differently depending on who you are and what you’ve been through. For some, it feels like liberation. For others, it feels like betrayal. For many, it’s also deeply confusing.
A Return to Diet Culture… or Just Another Form of Autonomy?
It’s easy to look at the rise of GLP-1s and feel like we’re backsliding into the era of “thin is in”. The glossy before-and-after photos in magazines. The re-emergence of the super small standard in pop culture. The social media posts that praise weight loss as a sign of control, discipline, or the only success that matters.
In short, it feels like we’re watching a new form of medicalised diet culture. One that’s more socially acceptable because it’s backed by science and prescribed by doctors.
But here’s where things get complicated: what if someone chooses GLP-1s not out of self-hate, but from a place of self-care? What if they’ve tried everything, and this finally helps them manage their hunger, regulate their blood sugar, and feel at ease in their body?
This is where the conversation gets a lot more nuanced.
The Mixed Signals We’re Getting
The modern health and fitness landscape is giving people wildly conflicting messages:
- “Love your body exactly as it is.”
- “Take this injection to change your body dramatically.”
- “Strong is the new skinny.”
- “But also… skinny is back.”
No wonder people feel torn. Clients tell me:
- “I thought I was supposed to love myself… but I still want to lose weight.”
- “If I take this medication, am I giving in to the pressure?”
- “Is it okay to want something different without betraying everything I’ve learned about self-acceptance?”
These are real, vulnerable questions, and they deserve honest, shame-free answers.
Body Positivity Never Meant Stagnation
One of the most common misunderstandings about the body positivity movement is that it says, “You can’t want to change your body.”
But that’s never been the point. The message has always been about separating your worth from your appearance, and understanding that you have a right to care for your body in a way that makes sense to you, without punishment, shame, or comparison.
So if someone decides to lose weight using GLP-1s, that doesn’t mean they’re turning their back on body positivity. It might mean they’re just approaching change from a different starting place.
We need to understand that both truths can coexist:
- You can love yourself and still want to change.
- You can pursue weight loss and still reject toxic beauty standards.
- You can use GLP-1s and still believe in body diversity and autonomy.
It’s not either/or. It’s both/and.
Media & Marketing Influence in the GLP-1 Era
Let’s be honest here, GLP-1 medications aren’t just being prescribed in quiet clinic rooms anymore. They’re being marketed, influenced, and branded hard.
If you’ve spent even five minutes on TikTok, Instagram, or any health-adjacent platform lately, you’ve probably seen it:
“The shot that changed my life.”
“Down 20 pounds without changing a thing.”
“No more food noise.”
It’s not just people talking about GLP-1s casually, it’s a full-on cultural moment. You can’t fail to notice it. Unfortunately, this cultural moment is being shaped just as much by media and marketing as it is by medicine.
Social Media Pressure and Comparison Loops
We can’t ignore how social platforms amplify the pressure to use:
- Before-and-after reels with dramatic transformations
- “What I eat on Ozempic” videos showing tiny portions
- Conversations around “Ozempic face” and needing filler to combat it (because even when we lose weight, apparently we still need to do even more things to finally allow us to accept ourselves).
As a coach, I’ve seen clients go from feeling proud of their steady, healthy progress… to questioning everything after scrolling past a string of overnight transformations. They start asking:
- “Am I doing enough?”
- “Should I be taking this too?”
- “What’s wrong with me if I’m not losing weight that fast?”
It’s not just a physical comparison, it’s an existential one.
You shouldn’t be getting pressured into using drugs (that have side effects) from social media.
The Rebranding of Diet Culture
What makes this tricky is that GLP-1s aren’t the same as crash diets or “detox teas.” They’re medically approved, researched, and often genuinely helpful. But they’re also being packaged and sold with the same emotional hooks:
- “Finally feel in control.”
- “It’s not your fault, it’s your biology.”
- “This is what health looks like now.”
And once again, the same pressure returns. Only this time, with a white coat and a prescription pad.
When Not Taking the Shot Becomes the New Taboo
We’re also seeing a quiet stigma emerge around not taking GLP-1s, especially if you’re overweight.
It’s no longer just “Wow, you lost weight! What’s your secret?”
It’s starting to sound like: “Why haven’t you taken the shot yet?”
“You could just fix this, you know that, right?”
“If you really cared about your health, wouldn’t you try it?”
This shift is subtle, but it is potentially dangerous. Because now we’re not just celebrating the people who take the drug, we’re starting to question the legitimacy or self-respect of those who don’t.
That’s a marketing dream come true.
GLP-1 companies don’t have to sell shame, they just have to let social media do the work for them.
The emotional hook has flipped:
- Before: “You should try this, it could help.”
- Now: “Why aren’t you trying this? What’s wrong with you?”
As a coach, I’ve had clients ask:
“Am I being irresponsible for not taking Ozempic?”
“Do I look like I’m not doing enough if I’m not on medication?”
This is medicalisation mixed with moral pressure, and it’s sneaky. Because it’s disguised as concern. But the underlying message is still the same one we’ve heard for decades:
Shrink yourself to be acceptable. And if there’s a shortcut, you’d better take it or you will be judged for opting out.
That’s not health. That’s coercion wrapped in convenience.
No one should feel ashamed for using a medical tool, and no one should feel ashamed for not using one.
How I Help Clients Navigate This
As a coach, part of my job is helping clients zoom out from the social noise and reconnect to what actually matters:
- Your goals
- Your values
- Your unique body and life circumstances
We talk openly about comparison. About how easy it is to feel behind. About how curated and edited these “success stories” often are.
Most importantly, we reframe success. Not in terms of weight lost or praise gained from co-workers, but in terms of energy, confidence, strength, sustainability and your relationship with yourself.
Because no matter what’s trending online, your worth shouldn’t be tied to an algorithm or the whims of society. How you treat your body, how you speak to yourself, and how you define your own version of health are all personal things, not communal.
The Mental Health & Identity Layer
If the last few years have taught me anything as a coach, it’s that we can’t talk about weight, body image, or lifestyle change without talking about mental health. We can’t disentangle the two, because what’s happening on the outside is only ever part of the story.
When someone starts a GLP-1 medication, or even just starts considering it, it’s rarely just about weight loss. It brings up questions about identity, history, self-worth, and so much more. If we don’t have conversations about these things, we miss the chance to support real, lasting transformation.
This Isn’t Just Physical
I’ve had clients lose 40 pounds and still hate their reflection. I’ve had others gain weight during the repairing of their relationship with food and feel more grounded in their bodies than ever before. The reality is that transformation doesn’t automatically equal peace, especially when the world around you reinforces the idea that your value fluctuates with your size.
This is what the psychologist Carl Rogers meant when he wrote, “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
When clients come from a place of shame or self-loathing, the changes they make are often hard to sustain, and harder still to feel proud of. But when they begin with compassion and acceptance, any changes that follow tend to feel less like punishment, and more like care.
But now you throw GLP-1s into the mix. You start eating less. The weight comes off fast. Compliments roll in. But inside, it’s not always as straightforward as it looks from the outside.
Clients tell me:
- “I’m proud, but I’m scared of regaining it.”
- “I miss how I used to eat socially and enjoy food.”
- “I feel like people only like me now that I’m smaller.”
- “I don’t even recognise myself in the mirror, and it’s messing with my head.”
These aren’t side effects in the traditional medical sense, but they’re very real, and they matter just as much as nausea or fatigue.
Many of our clients have used food as a coping mechanism for issues they have in their lives. This is often viewed as a problem, but the reality is that it is a solution for these people.
If they can no longer use this solution anymore, because GLP-1s have nerfed their hunger, then you have also taken away their coping mechanisms.
This is why addressing the emotions and underlying thoughts are necessary. The risk of suicide increases dramatically in individuals who undergo gastric bypass surgery, because their coping mechanism is taken away from them.
So you can’t escape doing the work on yourself by getting a jab of Ozempic.
The Risk of Identity Whiplash
Imagine spending years learning to embrace your body, celebrate body diversity, and reject external validation, only to feel tempted or encouraged to reverse course because a new tool exists that promises fast results. That can create a kind of identity whiplash.
You might wonder:
- “Am I undoing all the work I did to accept myself?”
- “Do I still belong in the body-positive space?”
- “Who am I without this body I fought so hard to love?”
It’s disorienting, and unless someone has a space to process that (ideally with a coach, therapist, or support network) it can lead to shame, isolation, and emotional burnout.
This is also where disordered eating patterns can quietly creep in. When your appetite is suppressed for long periods, your relationship with food can shift in subtle but concerning ways:
- Losing hunger cues
- Associating fullness with discomfort or guilt
- Using the medication as a buffer for deeper emotional needs
I’m not saying this happens to everyone, but I am saying it’s worth paying attention to. Because if we’re not supporting mental and emotional health during a major physical transformation, we’re only doing half the job.
What Coaching Needs to Prioritise in This Space
Here’s what I prioritise with clients navigating this emotional layer:
Permission to Feel It All
Joy, guilt, anxiety, pride, confusion, it’s all allowed. You don’t have to feel just one thing about your body or your progress.
Body Image Isn’t Fixed
How you feel in your body will shift, and that’s normal. Whether you’re gaining, losing, maintaining, or transitioning, we work on building body resilience, not body perfection.
Values Check-Ins
Is the way you’re treating your body aligned with your values, or just your fears? Are you making choices from self-trust, or from pressure and comparison?
Emotional Coping Without Food (or Restriction)
We work on other ways to manage stress, celebrate wins, and soothe discomfort, without relying on food OR restriction as the only tools.
Creating Safety, At Any Size
Whether someone’s weight is going up, down, or holding steady, we make sure their internal environment (their mindset, self-talk, and emotional safety) is stable and strong.
Because peace with your body isn’t something you find when you hit a goal weight. It’s something you build.
Whether GLP-1s are part of your journey or not, that peace is the goal, and you can work on it directly.
When the Faces of Body Positivity Change
Over the past few years, many of the loudest voices in the body positivity movement, particularly influencers with large platforms, have undergone dramatic physical transformations. In some cases, their bodies are now nearly unrecognisable from when they built their followings on self-love, fat acceptance, and “no need to change” messaging.
And a lot of people feel let down.
Fans and followers are asking:
- Were they faking it the whole time?
- Did they actually believe in body positivity, or was it just marketable at the time?
- Now that there’s an “easy” medical option for weight loss, have they quietly abandoned the movement they helped build?
This is where we really start to get back to the core of this article. Is the body positivity movement dead thanks to GLP-1s?
It Feels Personal, Because It Is
For many people, body positivity wasn’t just a trend, it was the first time they felt seen and safe in their bodies. To watch someone who once said, “you don’t need to lose weight to be worthy” now appear 50 pounds lighter, glowing, and suddenly silent about size inclusivity, it feels like betrayal.
It can make people question whether their acceptance journey was naïve or incomplete.
It can reinforce the old narrative: “See? Eventually, everyone wants to be smaller.”
But Here’s the Reality: It’s Not That Simple
Just because someone’s appearance has changed doesn’t mean their former message was fake.
It might mean:
- Their personal needs shifted (health, mental health, or emotional well-being)
- They felt ongoing pressure, even while preaching self-love
- They’re still figuring it out, but doing it in public, under intense scrutiny
That said, the silence around these changes is what creates the issues. When influencers don’t acknowledge the shift, or fail to explain how their views have evolved, it leaves a vacuum. One that followers fill with judgment, hurt, or confusion.
As Coaches and Health Professionals, Here’s How We Talk About It
I remind clients:
- We don’t know the full story behind someone’s transformation
- Someone else’s change doesn’t invalidate your path
- Body autonomy applies to everyone, even influencers
At the same time, I understand the grief. The feeling of “yet another role model leaving the club.”
So no, this doesn’t automatically mean the body positivity movement was a lie. It means we’re seeing just how complicated it is to live out these ideals in a culture that still rewards thinness, no matter how loudly the industry says we’ve moved on.
This is why the movement must mature. If body positivity is going to survive and stay relevant, it needs space for real people with evolving needs and changing bodies. Without abandoning the values of dignity, respect, and inclusivity it was built on.
Let’s Not Glorify What Puts People at Risk
While I’m a strong advocate for body autonomy, compassion, and size inclusivity, I also want to be clear about something, we should not glorify or celebrate excess obesity, especially when it comes at the cost of someone’s health.
That doesn’t mean shaming people with larger bodies. It doesn’t mean moralising fatness, or assuming we know anything about someone’s habits just by looking at them. But it does mean being honest about the very real risks associated with carrying excess weight beyond a certain threshold.
We’re talking about:
- Higher rates of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease and stroke risk
- Sleep apnea
- Joint deterioration and chronic inflammation
- Hormonal disruptions and reduced fertility
- Mobility limitations and reduced lifespan
These aren’t scare tactics, they’re physiological realities. While body diversity should absolutely be respected, we need to be careful not to swing so far in the direction of “all bodies are healthy bodies” that we lose sight of what bodies actually need to thrive.
Because here’s the thing: when someone with a platform glorifies obesity, or frames it as inherently empowering without nuance. it can inadvertently encourage others to neglect or even suppress their own health concerns, or to delay seeking help when they’re struggling.
I’ve seen this happen.
Clients afraid to say, “I want to lose weight,” because they think it makes them disloyal to the body positivity message.
People staying in unhealthy patterns because they’ve internalised the idea that any desire to change must mean self-hate.
And influencers, intentionally or not, framing metabolic dysfunction as “just another valid body type” without discussing the long-term consequences.
We can be inclusive without being misleading. We can be against weight stigma without normalising ill health. And we can absolutely promote self-love without pretending that health risks don’t exist.
Body positivity was never meant to be about glorifying extremes (of thinness or fatness). It was about reclaiming dignity, expanding representation, and shifting the conversation toward better care.
So it’s important to make sure the message we send is one of truth, support, and self-responsibility, not performative positivity that leaves people silently suffering in bodies that don’t feel good to live in.
For Many People, Weight Loss Is a Health Intervention
For a lot of people, losing weight isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about health.
As a coach, I’ve worked with clients whose weight was contributing to:
- Insulin resistance and prediabetes
- Sleep apnea and poor sleep quality
- Joint pain, inflammation, and mobility issues
- Hormonal disruptions (especially PCOS and estrogen dominance)
- Cardiovascular risk and metabolic syndrome
- Low energy, fatigue, and reduced quality of life
In these cases, weight loss isn’t about fitting into old jeans or chasing a body ideal, it’s about regaining function, freedom, and longevity. It’s about feeling well enough to live fully.
And yes, lifestyle-based changes, like smart nutrition, resistance training, stress management, and better sleep, can make a big difference. But for some individuals, especially those with underlying metabolic conditions, those changes aren’t always enough on their own. That’s where tools like GLP-1 medications can play a legitimate and evidence-based role.
Where HAES Fits In
Now, some people hear this and say, “But what about Health at Every Size?” So let’s be clear, HAES isn’t anti-health. It’s not even anti-weight loss.
What HAES does push back on is the idea that:
- Weight is the only (or most important) measure of health
- Everyone must pursue weight loss to be considered “doing health right”
- Healthcare should be conditional on body size
The problem is that HAES is often confused with “healthy at every size”, as if it’s claiming that everyone is automatically healthy, no matter what their size or health markers say.
That’s simply not the case.
HAES is about approach, not outcome.
It’s about giving people of all sizes equitable access to:
- Evidence-based care without bias
- Behaviour-focused interventions (like movement and nutrition) that aren’t solely judged by weight loss
- A supportive health system that respects body diversity and lived experience
That can absolutely include weight loss, when it’s a result, not a requirement of caring for your body in a sustainable and empowering way.
So Can You Be Pro-Health and Pro-Weight Loss? 100%.
You can support a client who is seeking fat loss to reduce insulin resistance, without reinforcing weight stigma.
You can acknowledge the health risks of obesity without moralising it.
You can use GLP-1s as a tool without glorifying thinness as the ultimate achievement.
This is the nuance that HAES supports, but that social media often misses.
Fitness, Nutrition & the Legacy of Body Positivity in the GLP-1 Era
If body positivity taught us anything, it’s that health is more than a number on the scale. It’s about how your body feels, functions, and supports your life. But now, in the age of GLP-1s, we’re seeing a new kind of tension emerge, not just in identity, but in behaviour.
When weight loss becomes rapid and almost automatic, a lot of people start wondering:
“If the meds are doing the heavy lifting, do I still need to show up for the rest?”
When your appetite is gone and the kilos are falling away without the struggle you’ve always known… why train? Why plan your meals? Why bother?
But here’s where we need to get clear, weight loss isn’t the same as health (ding ding ding, this is what the body positivity community have been saying for years). Without the supportive foundations like a movement practice, strength, good nourishment, and self-connection, we risk trading one kind of unsustainable mindset for another.
This is likely one of the next frontiers of body positivity: Reclaiming your body not just from shame, but from neglect.
1. Why Strength Still Matters
GLP-1s suppress hunger, but they don’t protect your muscle mass. They don’t build function, resilience, or physical confidence. When the number on the scale drops, but strength and mobility decline with it, what are we really gaining?
This is where I see the body positivity movement evolving. Not toward passive acceptance like so many practised, but toward embodied empowerment. Strength and capacity, not punishment.
2. Nutrition Isn’t Optional, Even If You’re Not Hungry
One unintended side effect of GLP-1s is that many people just stop caring about food. They skip meals. Forget to eat. Protein intake plummets. Veggies? Meh.
While it might feel like a break from years of emotional eating, it can actually start to mirror disordered patterns, just in reverse.
Body positivity, at its core, has always championed nourishment and good eating practices. Listening to hunger cues, honouring fullness, feeding your body with care. That message doesn’t stop being relevant just because a medication has quieted your appetite.
3. Movement Is an Act of Self-Respect
You don’t need to earn your food. You don’t need to punish your body to make it smaller. But you do deserve to feel strong, energised, and alive in your body.
Movement in the GLP-1 era is not about burning off fat. It’s about treating your body with kindness. This means respecting the fact that humans were designed to move. Our physiology simply doesn’t work effectively otherwise.
Whether it’s lifting, walking, dancing, or stretching, movement is an act of self care.
4. Reframing Goals in a Fast-Changing Body
When weight loss happens fast, it’s easy to lose track of what matters. Clients start off excited, but quickly feel disoriented.
That’s when we zoom out:
- Are you sleeping better?
- Feeling more grounded?
- Enjoying food again?
- Moving with ease?
- Feeling proud of how you’re treating yourself?
This is the evolution of the “strong not skinny” message. It’s not just about flipping one ideal for another. It’s about making something more holistic, where performance, nourishment, and joy matter more than numbers.
The Bottom Line: This Is What Grown-Up Body Positivity Looks Like
GLP-1s are changing the landscape. But they don’t erase the need for care. If anything, they make it more obvious where care is missing.
And this, I believe, is where the body positivity movement matures.
It’s no longer just about saying, “You don’t have to change.”
It’s about asking, “If you do change, how will you take care of yourself while it happens?”
You still need:
- Protein and resistance training to protect your muscle
- Intentional nutrition to fuel your brain and energy
- Movement to anchor your mental and physical well-being
- A relationship with your body that’s built on respect, not hate
Whether you’re shrinking, growing, or staying the same, your body deserves to be supported.
After the Shot, What Comes Next?
Let’s talk about the part of the GLP-1 story that often gets glossed over: What happens when the medication stops?
In a culture obsessed with fast results, we rarely talk about what happens after the “glow-up”. But as a coach, I’m not just thinking about your next 6 weeks. I’m thinking about your next 60 years.
Because coming off GLP-1s is when the real test begins.
Not just of habits, but of identity, mindset, and self-worth.
1. The Risk of Rebound Isn’t Just Physical, It’s Psychological
Yes, weight regain is common after discontinuing GLP-1s. Appetite returns. Cravings intensify. Old patterns try to creep back in. That’s physiology doing its job.
If your weight loss was built entirely on appetite suppression, without addressing lifestyle, self-image, or emotional regulation, then you’re left navigating a body that’s changed, with a mind that hasn’t caught up.
This is where body positivity re-enters the chat, not to shame or gloat, but to ask:
“Can you still respect your body, even if it’s changing again?”
“Can you honour what you’ve learned, instead of obsessing over what you’ve lost?”
This is the work that body positivity was always pointing us toward:
Building a relationship with your body that can weather change, not just celebrate arrival at an arbitrary destination.
2. What Post-GLP-1 Coaching Really Looks Like
When a client stops GLP-1s, the focus shifts. We’re not chasing loss, we’re building resilience.
Here’s what that includes:
Rebuilding a Nourishing Structure
- Bringing back gentle structure without obsession
- Reinforcing eating patterns that prioritise sustainability over suppression
- Spotting rebound behaviours early, before guilt turns into restriction
Prioritising Strength
- Using resistance training to build/preserve lean mass and metabolism
- Focusing on function over form (how strong and capable you feel)
- Reframing movement as self-respect, not compensation
Supporting Metabolic & Emotional Recovery
- Optimising sleep, stress, hormone function, and nervous system health
- Encouraging gentle movement (NEAT), nature, breathwork
- Addressing any emotional whiplash that comes with body fluctuations
Reframing What Progress Looks Like
- Detaching from the scale as the sole measure of success
- Measuring progress in energy, mood, consistency, and peace with self
- Making room for duality: grief, pride, fear, hope etc. all at once
This is where body positivity shows its staying power. It’s not just about how you feel when you’re shrinking. It’s about whether you can still show up for yourself when things get harder to control.
Real wellness isn’t about perfection. It’s about sustainability. It’s about what you can carry forward, not just what you can cut away.
And if body positivity has a future, it’s here, in the messy, in-between space where people are navigating change, emotion, identity, and long-term health without clear answers or curated aesthetics.
Where Does Body Positivity Go From Here?
So… with everything we’ve covered, it’s time to ask the question directly:
Is the body positivity movement dead?
My answer is no. But it is evolving. And honestly, it has to. But it was never a static movement to begin with.
The phrase “Body Positivity Movement Dead” has been trending in headlines and social media debates, often used to spark controversy or signal some kind of cultural betrayal. But that framing assumes the movement was one thing, frozen in time, with a single message. And that’s never been true.
The body positivity movement started as a radical call for dignity, healthcare access, and visibility for people in “marginalised bodies”. Over time, it got folded into mainstream wellness, then commercialised, watered down, and sometimes misunderstood.
But its core message that all bodies are worthy of respect and care, isn’t dead.
From Positivity to Autonomy
If the first wave of body positivity was about rejecting body shame, the next wave is about embracing body autonomy. The right to make informed, personal decisions about your body without fear of judgment, gatekeeping, or cultural backlash.
It’s no longer just about loving your body “as is.” It’s about owning your relationship with your body, as it is now, and as it may change.
Or as Jean-Paul Sartre put it: “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.”
Your health, your goals, your values, these are not handed to you. You shape them. That is the radical freedom (and responsibility) of body autonomy.
Autonomy means:
- Want to take GLP-1s to manage appetite or improve metabolic health? That’s your choice.
- Want to avoid weight loss entirely and focus on body neutrality or strength? Also your choice.
- Want to lose weight, gain confidence, and still support size inclusivity and respect for all bodies? Yes, you can do all of that.
You don’t owe anyone an explanation. You don’t need to prove that your health journey is “pure” or ideologically perfect. You don’t have to choose between accepting your body and wanting to improve it.
As Alan Watts once said, “You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.”
That’s the heart of autonomy. You’re allowed to evolve. To hold new desires. To move in a direction that feels better, stronger, and truer to self, even if it looks different from where you started.
Just as you shouldn’t moralise being overweight, we shouldn’t moralise someone who wants to lose weight.
Yes, we want to do some degree of introspection and assess our motivations. But sometimes weight loss is the right choice. That shouldn’t be morally repugnant. You shouldn’t feel an aversion to it, and you especially shouldn’t feel like you should shame others for that choice.
Ultimately, we want to encourage more autonomy and choice. Not “choice” that is pushed upon you, but an actual choice about what is best for you.
Ultimately, we are all just trying to navigate the world as best we can. A lot of you are trying to find happiness in places you just won’t find it (I hate to break it to you, but finally losing weight probably won’t make you love yourself).
However, that doesn’t mean that we should be denied the ability to choose our own destiny.
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous, and everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that that’s not the answer.”
The same is true of losing weight.
The thing is, with the rise of GLP1s, many more people can finally lose weight and see that it is not the answer to their issues.
And that is where the body positivity movement will come back into their life.
Because once the weight is gone, once the compliments fade, the novelty wears off, and the body stabilises, what’s left?
You. Your mind. Your values. Your relationship with food, with movement, with stillness. Your ability to sit with discomfort without immediately trying to fix or shrink it.
And that’s where the real work begins.
For many, the pursuit of weight loss leads them right back to body positivity, but this time, not as a trend or identity, but as a tool. A lens. A reminder that you are not more valuable just because you’re smaller, and you were never less valuable before.
So maybe that’s the full-circle moment of this whole discussion around whether the body positivity movement is dead thanks to GLP-1s.
It’s not that the body positivity movement is dead, but that it’s ready to meet us on the other side of weight loss.
Not to shame us, but to be there for us.
To remind us what we really needed all along wasn’t approval or a goal weight, but peace with ourselves.
Peace with our bodies.
Peace with our choices.
Peace with the fact that we are always allowed to evolve.
And if GLP-1s or weight loss or radical acceptance get you there? That doesn’t make you a failure of the movement. It makes you human.
And body positivity, at its best, has always had room for that.
You Can Both Accept Your Body and Want To Change It
There’s room for duality:
- You can be empowered by medical tools and still critique the systems that profit from body insecurity.
- You can challenge diet culture and want to change your eating habits or body composition.
- You can celebrate body diversity and seek personal transformation.
Autonomy is messy, evolving, and often uncomfortable, but it’s real life. It’s also more sustainable than clinging to rigid identities or performative values.
This shift from performative positivity to practical empowerment is where the future of this movement lives.
Because real self-respect doesn’t mean never changing. It means changing because you choose to, not because you were pressured into it.
Body Positivity Isn’t Dying, It’s Growing Up
That’s where I see the body positivity movement going, not toward extinction, but toward expansion. Toward maturity. Toward more personalisation. Toward deeper care for real people in real bodies with real needs.
That’s what autonomy looks like, and that’s what this next chapter of body positivity is really about.
So, no, the body positivity movement isn’t dead.
But it is being challenged, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
GLP-1s are here. Cultural ideals are shifting again, and we’re all being invited to revisit what we believe about health, worth, beauty, and change.
As a coach, I’ll continue to meet people wherever they are, whether they’re all-in on self-love, curious about weight loss meds, rebuilding their relationship with food, or just trying to feel like themselves again.
Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about movements or medications.
It’s about people.
It’s about choice.
And it’s about building a version of wellness that works for you. No shame, no pressure, and no one-size-fits-all solution.
Final Thoughts On Whether The Body Positivity Movement Is Dead
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for being open to a complex conversation in a world that often demands black-and-white answers.
Is the body positivity movement dead?
Here’s what I truly believe, after years of coaching people through every phase of body image, health, and change:
The movement isn’t dead. But the conversation is maturing.
We’re growing out of extremes “love your body no matter what” vs. “fix your body at all costs”, and into something new. Something more personal.
It’s not about choosing sides. It’s about choosing yourself.
If taking GLP-1s helps someone feel more in control of their health, that’s awesome.
If someone wants to embrace their body without pursuing weight loss, that’s awesome too.
If you want both body acceptance and change, you don’t need permission from a movement, a coach, or a trending headline. You’re allowed to evolve. You’re allowed to decide what wellness looks like for you.
Ultimately, the real question isn’t “Is the body positivity movement dead?”
The real question is:
What kind of relationship do you want with your body, and how can we help you build it from a place of strength, autonomy, and care, not shame, guilt and stigma?
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