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Reframing Your Relationship with Body Weight: A Healthier Perspective
How Society and Social Media Shape Our Perceptions—And How to Break Free
Lewis Blackmore
March 29, 2025
Good morning all, hope its been a good week of training an discipline so far!
I put together a post for instagram the other day regarding scale weight focus along with some tools to have on hand which I hope will help you, your clients or friends/family members who seem caught up with valuing what the number says.
Society Norms
Competing or not It makes perfect sense we may have emotional connection to body weight. Even though it's just a number it represents so much more because of the way our society has conditioned us to see it.
From a young age we're taught through media/ social media in particular, family, peers and even healthcare (to a degree) that weight carries meaning beyond just being a measurement of mass.
From a young age we're taught through media/ social media in particular, family, peers and even healthcare (to a degree) that weight carries meaning beyond just being a measurement of mass.
It gets linked to things like attractiveness, health and even self worth, as if being in a certain weight range makes someone "good" or "disciplined" while being outside of it means the opposite - which is not true 🙅♂️
Now when you add social media into the equation this connection becomes even stronger. Algorithms are designed to keep us engaged and unfortunately one of the most effective ways to do that is by playing on insecurities 👎
Your algorithm knows your insecurities! AI is well and truly doing its thing for good, bad and insecurities (maybe even creating insecurities we wouldn’t of ever had in the first place - but for another time 🕳️)
The content you see whether it's about weight loss, fitness, or "ideal" body types isn't random. The algorithm prioritises what keeps people interacting and often that means content that makes us compare ourselves which can create a feedback loop where weight starts feeling like a measure of self-worth rather than just a number.
How do we unlearn this belief?
On Instagram I shared 2 examples (joys of email I am not limited on how much I can type haha). Here are ….
1) Use Multiple Measures of Well-being
Instead of relying on weight consider other indicators of health and wellness eg. energy levels, strength, sleep quality, mental well-being, libido and how you feel in your body.
2) Curate Your Social Media Feed
Be intentional about the content you consume. Unfollow accounts that make you feel unworthy or trigger comparison - or commit to spending less time on here altogether
3) Practice Self-Compassion
Recognise that societal norms around weight are largely constructed and ever-changing. Your body is not a problem to be fixed; it’s a vessel that carries you through life.
4) Reframe Your Thoughts
When you catch yourself tying your weight to your self-worth, challenge that thought. Ask yourself: “Would I talk to a friend this way?” or “What else defines me outside of my weight?”
5) Shift the Focus to Data, Not Emotion
Your weight is one data point, like your height or shoe size. Instead of seeing fluctuations as a reflection of your success or failure, try to look at them as neutral information. Many factors impact weight—hydration, hormones, stress—so daily changes aren’t an accurate measure of health or progress.
Good morning all, hope its been a good week of training an discipline so far!
I put together a post for instagram the other day regarding scale weight focus along with some tools to have on hand which I hope will help you, your clients or friends/family members who seem caught up with valuing what the number says.
Society Norms
Competing or not It makes perfect sense we may have emotional connection to body weight. Even though it's just a number it represents so much more because of the way our society has conditioned us to see it.
From a young age we're taught through media/ social media in particular, family, peers and even healthcare (to a degree) that weight carries meaning beyond just being a measurement of mass.
From a young age we're taught through media/ social media in particular, family, peers and even healthcare (to a degree) that weight carries meaning beyond just being a measurement of mass.
It gets linked to things like attractiveness, health and even self worth, as if being in a certain weight range makes someone "good" or "disciplined" while being outside of it means the opposite - which is not true 🙅♂️
Now when you add social media into the equation this connection becomes even stronger. Algorithms are designed to keep us engaged and unfortunately one of the most effective ways to do that is by playing on insecurities 👎
Your algorithm knows your insecurities! AI is well and truly doing its thing for good, bad and insecurities (maybe even creating insecurities we wouldn’t of ever had in the first place - but for another time 🕳️)
The content you see whether it's about weight loss, fitness, or "ideal" body types isn't random. The algorithm prioritises what keeps people interacting and often that means content that makes us compare ourselves which can create a feedback loop where weight starts feeling like a measure of self-worth rather than just a number.
How do we unlearn this belief?
On Instagram I shared 2 examples (joys of email I am not limited on how much I can type haha). Here are ….
1) Use Multiple Measures of Well-being
Instead of relying on weight consider other indicators of health and wellness eg. energy levels, strength, sleep quality, mental well-being, libido and how you feel in your body.
Be intentional about the content you consume. Unfollow accounts that make you feel unworthy or trigger comparison - or commit to spending less time on here altogether
3) Practice Self-Compassion
Recognise that societal norms around weight are largely constructed and ever-changing. Your body is not a problem to be fixed; it’s a vessel that carries you through life.
4) Reframe Your Thoughts
When you catch yourself tying your weight to your self-worth, challenge that thought. Ask yourself: “Would I talk to a friend this way?” or “What else defines me outside of my weight?”
5) Shift the Focus to Data, Not Emotion
Your weight is one data point, like your height or shoe size. Instead of seeing fluctuations as a reflection of your success or failure, try to look at them as neutral information. Many factors impact weight—hydration, hormones, stress—so daily changes aren’t an accurate measure of health or progress.
Do your goals require you to be a particular weight…
Your weight does not define your value. Learning to separate the number on the scale from your self-worth is a process but with awareness and intentional shifts in perspective you can move toward a healthier, more neutral relationship with your body.
If the focus on scale weight is occupying a lot of mental space and resulting in disempowering habits that you feel you cannot change but want to there is help available:
I hope this weeks email was helpful, have a good weekend everyone!
Lewy
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