Introduction
In many health conversations, the focus is still on weight, body size, BMI, and appearance. We’re often told that thinner equals healthier or more disciplined; that weight loss is the main route to wellbeing; that diets are necessary if we want to be “good” or “healthy.”
At Relinquish on the Gold Coast, we believe there is a broader, more compassionate, more realistic way to view health. Health includes your physical, mental, emotional, social well-being, it is multi-dimensional, individual, and does not need to be tied to body size. Health matters your physical, mental, emotional, social wellbeing matters but it is multi-dimensional, individual, and not strictly tied to body size.
In this post, we explore why BMI is an imperfect measure, how diet culture limits health, what truly supports wellbeing, and what mindful, inclusive, realistic steps you can take toward living well in your body.
Why BMI and Weight-Centred Views Are Limited
- BMI is a crude tool. It divides bodies into categories (underweight, “normal”, overweight, obese), mostly on the bases of weight and height, without considering muscle mass, bone density, hydration, fat distribution, ethnic differences, age, fitness, strength, or metabolic health.
- People with the same BMI can have very different health markers: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, fitness, energy, mobility, mood, and quality of sleep.
- Focusing on BMI often leads to fixating on weight change, dieting efforts, short-term plans, or guilt when progress doesn’t match expectations. This can reinforce cycles of restriction, overexertion, shame, or food anxiety.
- Many health behaviours like balanced eating, good sleep, social connection, enjoyable movement, stress management, mental wellbeing contribute more to total wellbeing than BMI alone.
How Diet Culture Distorts Our View of Health
- Diet culture promotes the idea that thinner is better; weight loss is always good; strict food rules are normal; certain foods are “bad”; exercise is purely for burning calories; “cheat” or “treat” foods are morally inferior.
- These messages often link value, self-worth or success to appearance. They imply that if you follow rules, you will be rewarded with a “better body” and greater respect — which can fuel shame, guilt, dissatisfaction, or disordered behaviours when things don’t go as expected.
- Over time, people may trust outside rules more than their body’s internal signals; they may feel anxiety around food decisions; they may hide eating, over-exercise, restrict, binge, or become obsessed over weight fluctuations.
- Diet culture tends to emphasise results (often appearance or weight) rather than process (how you feel, how sustainable your behaviours are, how empowered or confident you are, how your body responds to nourishment, rest, movement, and stress).
A Broader Definition of Health What Truly Matters
When we redefine health beyond weight and appearance, several key areas come into focus:
- How you feel physically
- Your energy levels, digestion, sleep quality, pain or discomfort, illness recovery, immune resilience, movement capacity.
- How your mood responds to what you eat, how you move, how you rest, and how you manage stress or emotions.
- How you eat
- Regularity, satisfaction, variety, pleasure, culture, social life, emotional needs, sustainability, internal cues for hunger and fullness.
- Less overthinking, guilt, or rigid rules; more freedom, trust, comfort, satisfaction.
- How you move
- Whether your movement feels enjoyable, restorative, energising, socially satisfying, peaceful, fun.
- Not just about calorie burn or punishment, but about what your body likes, what your life allows, what you enjoy and what supports your mood, strength, rest, recovery.
- Mental and emotional wellbeing
- How you experience thoughts about food, body, movement, rest.
- How much mental energy you spend on worry, shame, guilt, comparison, food rules, “good vs bad” foods, body dissatisfaction.
- How much capacity you have to rest, connect, socialise, enjoy food, enjoy movement, enjoy life.
- Resilience & sustainability
- How easy the approach is to maintain over time.
- Whether you feel confident making food decisions, navigating social eating, managing emotional triggers around food or body image.
- Whether your goals are internally motivated (comfort, health, pleasure, confidence) rather than externally imposed (weight loss, appearance, comparison).
- Autonomy & body trust
- How much you trust your own hunger, fullness, satisfaction signals.
- How much you feel in control of how you eat, when you eat, what you eat in alignment with your values, preferences, lifestyle, health needs (rather than rigid external rules).
- How much you feel able to adapt to changing life circumstances: injury, illness, mood, stress, travel, social events, celebrations, rest or busy phases.
Practical Steps to Redefine Health in Your Life
Here are some ideas to begin shifting your view and experience of health:
1. Focus on behaviours, not just numbers
- Set goals related to how you feel (energy, mood, comfort), how you function (movement, daily tasks, rest), how you enjoy food and social eating not just what the scales say.
- Reflect on which behaviours make you feel better and more comfortable, rather than only which behaviours “should” lead to weight loss or a certain body size.
2. Notice your internal messages
- What do you say to yourself when you see food you like, treat foods, social meals, body changes, rest days, movement difficulty, or tiredness?
- Are your thoughts helpful or harmful? Do they motivate you or make you feel guilt/shame?
- Practice talking to yourself the way you would to a friend: with kindness, understanding, curiosity, respect.
3. Move in ways you enjoy
- Explore movement types you like (walking, swimming, dancing, yoga, resistance work, stretching, group classes, gentle hikes, beach walks, etc.).
- Notice how your body feels before, during and after movement. Does it feel energised, challenged, rested, sore, relieved, joyful? Adjust accordingly.
- Let movement be part of how you feel good, not only how you might look good.
4. Eat with satisfaction & variety
- Prioritise foods you genuinely enjoy, foods from your culture, foods that nourish, foods that feel pleasurable.
- Explore balance, variety, and moderation, rather than rigid “rules” or moralising foods.
- Check in with how full/satisfied you feel, not only whether you complied with a plan.
5. Reflect on what health means to you
- Everyone’s ideal of health is different. Some people prioritise energy. Others focus on mood, comfort, performance, recovery, longevity, social life, enjoyment.
- Take time to define your own health values: what matters most to you right now and how you want to feel, move, eat, rest, socialise, connect.
- Let your values guide your decisions, not only what society says bodies “should” look like.
6. Seek supportive, compassionate guidance
- If you feel stuck, judged, overwhelmed by dieting messages, shame, body dissatisfaction, or the mental burden of food decisions, working with a dietitian who understands a multi-dimensional approach to health can help.
- A supportive professional can help you tailor your eating, movement, rest, emotional support, pacing, and goals to your life not a generic standard.
How Relinquish Supports Redefining Health on the Gold Coast
At Relinquish, we help clients shift from diet-centric, appearance-focused health to values-based, comfort-and-wellbeing-based health. This includes:
- Exploring what health and wellbeing mean to you, not what “health” is supposed to mean.
- Setting goals around how you want to feel, move, rest and eat rather than relying purely on external metrics like weight or BMI.
- Helping you build trust in your body, your hunger/fullness cues, your satisfaction, your movement enjoyment, your emotional experience, your pace.
- Recognising change is non-linear. Healing, reconnection, trust, comfort, satisfaction evolve over time, and you get to set your pace.
- Providing compassionate, respectful, inclusive care that avoids guilt, shame, moralising of foods or bodies, and instead prioritises your autonomy, your satisfaction, your wellbeing, your resilience.
Conclusion & Call to Action
If you’re tired of defining your health by your weight, or feeling judged by societal expectations, or stuck in cycles of dieting, guilt, or frustration it’s time to redefine what health means for you.
On the Gold Coast, Relinquish is here to help you build a healthier, more satisfying, more sustainable, more compassionate relationship with your body, your food, your movement, your emotions, and your wellbeing.
Reach out today to talk about how you want to live well not just in body size, but in comfort, energy, mood, satisfaction, autonomy, joy and resilience.