Just Wear the Shorts (and Then Go Move in Them)

Body positivity has a new rallying cry: Just wear the shorts. Wear the bathing suit. Stop waiting for your body to be different before you start living.

It’s a powerful message, but what if you’re embarrassed for your body to be seen while it moves, no matter what you’re wearing? If you’ve ever skipped a workout, avoided the pool, or stayed on the sidelines because you felt too self-conscious about how your body looks in motion, you’re not alone. Physical activity can make us feel especially exposed and vulnerable to judgment.

This brings us to a common barrier, articulated by a reader: “When I move it makes me feel fat. My body jiggles. I’m ashamed of my body and don’t want to be reminded of it.”

Let’s break this down.

Jiggle It Just a Little Bit (or a Lot)

Body-image flexibility is your ability to embrace the present moment, including a negative body image, while pursuing your life values. Even if you have negative body image thoughts and feelings, you can choose to move anyway.

With body-image flexibility, you can notice your jiggle and “feel fat,” accept those parts of your current experience, and shift your attention and energy toward your movement goals and values. Here are two exercises you can try to build more body-image flexibility:

Perspective practice in the mirror

Set aside a few minutes alone in front of a mirror.

1. Shift your perspective. Gaze at your entire body as if it were a panoramic view.
2. Embrace the whole picture. Focus on your body as a complete entity, appreciating its entirety rather than being critical of its individual features.
3. Look at your body for its function. How will this body help you move through your day today, complete what you need to get done, or express yourself?
4. Watch for over-focus. Be mindful of any tendency to hone in on one particular body part or aspect; gently redirect this attention outward to the broader view of your body.
5. Practice with patience. Be patient with yourself as you learn to see your body as an integrated whole. Take this practice with you into your day: When you catch yourself zooming in on one part you don’t like, zoom back out again. And focus on function over form.

Embrace the jiggle

Acceptance doesn’t mean you have to like your body or abandon your efforts toward change. Instead, it’s about embracing the challenging thoughts and uncomfortable sensations that may arise as you pursue what truly matters to you, such as connecting socially, fostering intimacy, or staying physically active.

1. Choose an activity you really want to do, even (or especially) if it makes you jiggle and triggers those “I feel fat” thoughts. (Actually, if it is an extra-jiggly activity, you’ll get more bang for your buck with this practice.)
2. Remind yourself why this activity is important to you. Is it your ticket to being more socially engaged, a way to be closer with your partner, or a way to be more connected to a hobby or sport you love? Tying your movement to an internal value can help you persevere through embarrassment as well as other obstacles like fatigue, boredom, and distraction.
3. Get willing. Let your body jiggle and wiggle as you engage in this activity. Welcome any uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that come up. As you do, remind yourself: I welcome this jiggly sensation because I value _______.
4. Add at least one extra-jiggly activity a week: Jump rope, bounce on a rebounder, shimmy, twerk, have a kitchen dance party, play hopscotch, use a hula hoop, run up some stairs, run down a hill, take a belly-dancing class. The more you practice accepting the jiggle, the more flexible you become. Increase the challenge by jiggling in public, in clothes that show your jiggle, with others. Remember that when you embrace the jiggle, you are freeing yourself to move, and freeing yourself from fat-shaming culture. It’s an act of body-image activism: All bodies deserve to move without shame or embarrassment.

The Way It Looks, the Way It Works

Finally, let’s reframe our thinking. So your body jiggles. What else can it do? Ride a bike? Get you from point A to point B all day? Give a great hug? Sing beautifully?

Body appreciation is the ability to accept, respect, and appreciate your physical form, regardless of its appearance. Research shows that the more body-appreciative you are, the easier it is to choose to move.

One more tip: While your body isn’t a machine, it can sometimes be helpful to think of it as a series of parts coming together to work in a way that keeps us alive and engaged. That is, we can think of our body more in functional terms and less as the very essence of our identity.

In that context, movement greases the joints, and reinforces the scaffolding that holds us up and the pulleys that articulate our parts. It maintains and optimizes our bodies so that we can use them for whatever is meaningful to us.

The shorts and the embarrassment are beside the point; our lives are better when we can move freely, jiggle and all.

Adapted/excerpted from the book I Know I Should Exercise, But... 44 Reasons We Don’t Move and How to Get Over Them by Diana Hill and Katy Bowman