As an influx of reblogs have been clogging my notifications once more, I’m really intrigued to know why or how fitspo blogs find my “weight does not dictate your health or your worth” message inspiring enough to spread and feature in their online spaces.

I know that the message leaves a lot up to the viewer in that they can project their own views and thoughts onto it, but at nearly 10,000 notes I never thought it would be so widely shared and accepted across so many communities. 

It was practically created as an alternative to fitspo (anti-fitspo in fact) but now it’s being appropriated in those spaces.

Most fitspo blogs hold a certain weight or body type as a “fit” and “healthy” ideal. Nearly every fitspo blogger has a “goal weight” designated for themselves in their content and feature idealized images of thin, toned bodies as an aesthetic goal. This would suggest to me that most fitspo bloggers believe weight and health are directly correlated and that this belief is being integrated into their own health and wellness narratives.

That approach clearly doesn’t jive with me. I mean, I have a “fuck fitspo” tag on my blog and have maintained a critical eye on the fitspo community in terms of its inability to recognize that people with disabilities (both mental and physical) find fitspo and weight loss messaging detrimental to their health and wellness goals. 

I recognize that some able-bodied people find it to be helpful, but it is not and should not be toted as the end-all-be-all way of defining and inspiring good health and fitness for EVERYONE.

And so I come back to my original question - If most fitspo bloggers focus on weight loss as a “healthy” ideal, what is so attractive to them about this statement that suggests an alternative to thinking about how weight and health are not correlated? Was my intent lost or misinterpreted? I’m honestly intrigued.