WHAT WE'RE ABOUT

RBI focuses on using expressive writing, design-oriented work, photography, media, research, and community input to fuel fat positive, body acceptance, discussion, and outreach. Our goal is to redefine the way we view and think about body image, size, fat, discrimination, health, fitness, wellness, mental/chronic illness, stigma, and other related topics.

We are constantly redefining our own perspectives, and therefore tend to write a lot about our personal experiences. Many followers and contributors are living with anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, depression, and a variety of other body image disorders or mental illnesses, so please be respectful and remember that health applies differently to everyone. Any and all potentially triggering content will be prefaced with a trigger warning.

RBI supports all races, genders, classes, and sizes. We try our best to make this a safe space for everyone. If we are not doing our job or checking our privilege, we invite you to please inform us.

Some of the artwork you see here has been created by our founder or moderators, some sourced when applicable. Please be kind enough to source this blog whenever you share it's content.

We are not health professionals. Any and all advice provided on this blog is supported only by our own research, studies, and personal experiences; nothing more.

This blog is part of the Safe Space Network.

I’d argue that self-improvement efforts of all kinds are most likely to succeed when you approach them from a place of self-love and positivity, both of which are more easily cultivated when you’re focused on looking and feeling your most awesome at whatever stage you currently occupy. 

Using clothing as a carrot — “I will allow myself to wear a dress when I’ve lost X pounds,” and so forth — only reinforces negativity about yourself and your body, and negativity is a poor source of energy to make positive changes.

An aside: I just heard someone tell me the other day that he doesn’t want to get a particular tattoo until he looks “good enough” and loses a certain amount of weight first. I basically just couldn’t comprehend that.