The diet industry lives on morality. You are "good" for eating a salad and "bad" for eating a cookie. This binary leads to the binge-restrict cycle.
Nutritional neutrality is the practice of seeing food as food. Broccoli is not a virtue. Cake is not a sin. Both provide different types of nourishment—one for micronutrients, one for the soul.
If you want to honor both body positivity and wellness, you don’t have to split yourself in two. Try these principles:
Body positivity can feel impossible on days when you’re struggling with illness, pain, or dysphoria. That’s where body neutrality helps: “I don’t have to love my body. I can simply respect what it does for me today.”
Try this: When negative thoughts arise, shift to neutral statements: “This is my leg. It allows me to walk to the kitchen. That is enough.”
