At Eat Love Live we support body autonomy. We believe that each individual is entitled to make informed decisions about their own bodies.
We aim to empower individuals to decide what happens in and outside their body and do not support coercion or external influence. We aim to hold a space to explore these body decisions in a non judgmental way where individuals feel safe to unpack the nuance of their relationship with their body and the many influences that have aided in developing this relationship.
Health is a complex and nuanced concept and is ‘not one size fits all’. There is no age, size, ability, or genetics that dictates healthiness. There is no single standard; no set of recommendations that will fit all. If all people pursued health care with the same behaviors, physical activities and dietary choices they would all have DIFFERENT outcomes.
There are things that we know may support improving health outcomes or preventing ill health. We recognise that many of these things are not in our individual control such as race, social economic standing, disability, access to health care etc. Examples of the things that may be in individuals control include moderate alcohol use, smoking status, social connectedness, enjoyable movement and plant food intake.
And of the things listed above no individual owes it to anyone to be doing these things. We highlight this to show that in supporting someone to navigate health care, wellness and behaviors change there are things that we have strong evidence to support, that can improve health outcomes that are not about depriving oneself, weight loss or forced body change under the ruse of health care.
We recognise that there can be lots of work that needs to be done to understand and explore ambivalence about change or barriers to change. We aim to hold space for our clients to navigate all of these things.
We acknowledge the many and varied ways that personal identities, cultural systems and systemic bias influence what an individual views as their ideal and attainable health. We acknowledge that there may not have been a space for individuals to previously explore the complex intersections that influence their health and what is realistic for them to achieve.
There are often many loud voices telling us that we all need to all be one thing to be healthy. That we need to be small, able bodied, free from mental health, free of deranged blood results, with cardiovascular fitness. This is not a realistic goal for many people.
It doesn't mean that we don't focus on behavioral change towards improved health outcomes. It means that for every individual we see we consider what are realistic and attainable health goals for them. For their genetic predispositions. For their medical conditions and for their mental health conditions.
When someone is struggling with an eating disorder it can feel that people are not letting you exercise control over your own body if there is pressure to change current eating habits or gain weight. In this situation we aim to provide all of the information about the short and long term risks of disordered eating behaviors and to provide a space to explore what intentions are yours and what are the eating disorder’s. We aim to support you to explore your ambivalence and brainstorm strategies that feel safe and achievable to move towards a health and recovery that resonates with you.