The MATRIX Want to Normalize OBESITY
Episode Stats
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Summary
In this episode, we discuss the importance of body positivity and how it relates to our health. We also discuss the role of weight loss in our lives, and the role it plays in our mental health. We hope that you enjoy this episode and that it encourages you to be kinder to yourself.
Transcript
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But I think I have unhealthy habits that I'm not actively addressing.
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So, yeah, I'd say it is a priority, but there are levels to it.
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but I also don't think that that totally relates to body positivity.
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If I could press a button and be the healthiest weight in the world,
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And I think anyone would be lying if they said that they wouldn't push that
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button to just be a healthy weight instantly and have all these things.
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And I don't think that that makes me a bad person.
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I don't think that means I should think less of myself for that.
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And that's why I don't really associate that with body positivity because I
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don't hate myself for it, even if it's something I should aspire to.
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A lot of the guys in the room immediately go 100%, 1,000%.
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And then for the girls, it's like, ah, it's complicated.
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I just feel like, is it a priority or is it not a priority?
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That's the reason why you get off your bed and walk.
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Like, you have to be healthy to be able to live, right?
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So, who here would you say is actively trying to lose weight?
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Gym membership, going to the gym, trying to be more consistent with it,
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and making adjustments to eating habits, but also mindset as well.
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Not seeing working out and, you know, the steps towards prioritizing my health,
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which are admittedly quite difficult, some of them more than others, as punishment,
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I think health is a reward for discipline and just loving yourself a little bit more.
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But if you see it as punishment, it becomes something that you don't want to do.
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So, yeah, changing my mindset to reward as opposed to punishment.
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Um, King, could you turn up the headphones a little bit?
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Do you guys think that body positivity promotes healthiness?
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Depends what aspect they're looking at it from.
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I know in the last, last week, we had this discussion about body positivity.
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And for me, it's not about me being on a big magazine or people like me being promoted.
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It's more about, um, like, for example, being accommodated for in, in public services
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Now, I understand, um, I am the size I am, but at the end of the day, people with disabilities
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And people, how, how do you know if I don't have a hidden disability?
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So, I'm just saying that's why to me body positivity is important so that people don't get mistreated.
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Um, I think that body positivity isn't important in terms of mental health.
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I think there's a lot of people that really hate themselves because of their weight.
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And I personally, like, on my socials, get a lot of comments from people saying that
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they are so happy to see somebody my size, comfortable with themselves and happy and
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Like, all of my last Instagram posts have been me in bikinis.
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And I've got so many comments from people being like, wow, I wish I could wear that.
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Which I think some people would take as a backhanded compliment.
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But for me, like, as somebody, I'm trying to lose weight.
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I'm trying to be healthier because I know it's a priority.
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I know it's something I need to do in my life, but it's not my reality right now.
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And I think that, um, the fat shaming movement and, like, just being like, these fat whales,
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Everyone in the chat right now that's like, in fact, Doug MPA.
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I don't think that fat shaming helps anyone lose weight.
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Is I'm, like, I've gone online and I've said, like, I want to lose weight.
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And I've held myself accountability, like, online.
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Yeah, so I made a video because I wasn't allowed down a slide that I wanted to go down.
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And that was, like, a moment for me where I was, like, oh, like, I should be allowed down
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You know, like, that was a moment where I felt, like, okay, I need to do something.
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And it wasn't because I felt shame or whatever.
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It was just, like, a bit of a, like, oh, the average person can do this and I can't do
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But it doesn't mean I don't respect anyone less for being overweight.
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And I just, I do think the body positivity moment is important for people to like themselves.
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And I think the best way to lose weight is by liking yourself because you're doing something
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I actually think that, for me personally, when I lost weight, it was because I didn't
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So, and actually, it was funny because when I did lose weight, it was because someone, I
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mean, they didn't bully me directly, but they were talking about how they would never date
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Well, Pearl, baby, there's everybody for everybody.
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If you're overweight, you're 30%, you're 30%, as a woman, you're 30%, you're 30% less
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Girl, you need to stop following statistics because you got, listen, you don't know the
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I would say 200 pound on you would look very different on five foot four, 200 pound.
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Oh, it's not to say like, I know that's why they were making fun of it.
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They didn't know how big I was at the time, but, but no, I was still overweight.
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So it's still like, I was still overweight when I looked at like my numbers.
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Like I ended up losing like 30 pounds at the time.
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So you seem like a person who's well adjusted and quite mentally stable though.
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And I don't think that's the case for everybody.
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And I think when you tell a lot of fat people, like you're overweight and that's disgusting,
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And if you don't comfort eat, that's never been in your nature.
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Well, yeah, but I think the solution would be to maybe stop comfort eating and like figure
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Comfort eating is a coping mechanism that people do that makes them overweight, you know?
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So when you tell someone like you're a fat cow, they're going to be like, oh, I'm fat.
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I think we change the definition of body positivity because what body positivity is, to me, is numbers.
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If you step on a scale and you see some numbers and then you become a better version of yourself
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every single day, week or month, and you see numbers that improve, that's a positive result.
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So body positivity is becoming better every day.
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Yeah, but I feel like the question was, does body positivity promote health?
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If you're telling people it's okay to be at a heavy weight or okay to be obese, then that's not healthy.
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By the science, it's not possible to be healthy.
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So to answer Pearl's question, it doesn't promote health.
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I would say it promotes mental health, not physical health, no, because that's not the aim of the game.
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But in terms of mental health and making people feel guilty about themselves and likely to make good choices about themselves, I don't.
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I just would think the first step with mental health is your eating still.
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I could pull up the research on it, but I know there's like negative mental health effects from sugar.
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This is true, but I think the point of body positivity is not to say that it's okay to be fat and to encourage people to be fat.
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Body positivity does not necessarily promote health, but it promotes not hating yourself while you look like what you look like.
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Don't waste a perfectly good day inside feeling like you can't go to that party or, you know, you can't go to work and being a shut-in because you think people are going to take the mick out of you because you're fat.
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Like, don't waste a perfectly good life because you're not where you want to be right now.
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Like, absolutely, the body positivity movement, you know, it should focus on health a little bit more.
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But I think for the individuals concerned, it's about not hating themselves and, as I said, not punishing themselves for not being where they want to be.
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Well, she's saying mental health, but wouldn't it be better, like in Pearl's case, to get bullied and say, hey, you're getting a bit pudgy, you're getting a bit fat, maybe lose the weight, and that'll promote better mental health.
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And, you know, you're more comfortable with how you look, you're feeling healthier.
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I'm not saying I'm for bullying, but if it gets you to a better place and more comfortable with how you look, I think it's the right way to go, especially when it comes to your physique and how you look.
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I also think people misplace body positivity with mental positivity.
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So what we're talking about is mental positivity, like what you just explained, is more in control of the mind than the body.
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Because when you think about body positivity and that we're promoting obesity or fat, then it's not positive.
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Wouldn't you rather have someone that pulls you aside and say, hey, I think you're getting a little bit unhealthy, or hey, you're putting on some weight.
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I'd like to have someone in my life like that pulling me in check.
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Like, I've been skinny and I've been fat, and I've known I'm fat.
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I can see why my clothes don't fit like they used to.
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Like, you don't need someone to tell you you're fat.
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It's like, because every Christmas at my grandma's house, I would just know there's that one relative that if I came back fatter, they would say something to me.
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And it kind of motivated me every year, because I'm like, I don't want that ant to, you know.
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Like, and sometimes people talk to fat people like they're not self-aware.
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I know I've been in incredibly good shape before.
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Like, I was in drama school where I was working out 12 hours a day.
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And bullying, like, I mean, for me, it doesn't really work, because I just phase it out.
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I mean, I'm, like, I've been online for a long time, so the things that people say don't affect me.
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But for most people, bullying, famously, does not work.
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What I have to say is body positivity is, to me, just really accepting the way you look.
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And, for me, ain't gonna lie, I agree with, to some, I do agree with a lot of what you're saying.
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And, but when you, when being overweight has been an issue your whole life, and then people are also, people also make comments as an adult.
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Like, people have always just targeted you for that.
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And, to me, to be honest, it just scrambled my head.
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Um, so body positivity, to me, is basically accepting the way you look.
00:12:13.720
And, to be honest, I hated, I wasn't happy with my body, Perl.
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But I make, I make conscious decisions, like, to eat healthy things.
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And I'm also not gonna lie and say I'm the most healthiest.
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No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
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Yeah, but today is about, is we're here in a room with personal trainers.
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Of course, I love chicken and tits and certain things.
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So, in my house, everything is, there's no processed food at all.
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And that's why it's just literally you have to, if you want to drink, drink, drink, you
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If you want to get ice cream, you want to, you need to make it yourself.
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And then there's not even a microwave at home as well.
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Like, everything is basically in the best way that I can cook.
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And what about the people out there who are maybe in a similar situation to you where they
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don't have access to processed or unhealthy foods at home, but they still seek those things
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What, what would you say to those people who actively seek unhealthy food?
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I'd say, my advice honestly would be, you don't want a heart attack.
00:14:05.140
But wouldn't that be a better message for the body positivity movement to say rather than
00:14:13.940
You could, you could get cancelled nowadays for what Sugar Puff just said.
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Because it's like, you know, if like Lizzo comes out and says, hey, I'm, I'm, I'm, I want
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And, you know, she, she just wants to better herself and get healthy.
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It's like, if you're saying, oh, you're going to die soon.
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For me, it's literally, I am not delusional with myself.
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The reason why I'm for body positivity is because people literally get mistreated.
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How do you, how do you think people get mistreated?
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And, and like I said, I've been eating healthy and I've actually actively been trying.
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Yes, I'm not on it with the exercise, but you are.
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Like, what if we wanted to normalize smoking and put smoking on the covers of magazines?
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At the end of the day, smoking is literally, it's a different method.
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And eating is you're using your mouth, you're using your teeth, and your taste buds are working.
00:15:48.220
Well, my point is like normalizing something that's, I would say obesity.
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I mean, I don't know if I'd most of you say illness.
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People just need to gain some respect and know that people are individuals.
00:16:03.260
Now, if you really want to make an active difference, if you guys really want to make an active difference, when you see a big person, you'd be like, come on, man.
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Let's run or let's play a game or let's do something that actively make a difference.
00:16:15.720
I would challenge you as well to find me like a body positivity movement that's like, eat junk, do whatever you want.
00:16:41.320
They do like, this is what I ate today as a fat person.
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And I'm like, to me, that's like, this is how I smoked, right?
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With that, like for me personally, I would never show that because I don't want to promote unhealthy things.
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And the same way that if I smoked or vaped, I wouldn't show me smoking or vaping on my page because it's not something that I would be proud of, you know?
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And I wouldn't call that the body positivity movement.
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For what it means to me is people just accepting themselves for who they are, wanting the best for themselves.
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And I don't think there's anything wrong with that, whether you're fat, whether you're skinny, whether you're anorexic.
00:17:18.960
I think that the body positivity movement applies to you.
00:17:21.300
I think it's just enjoying who you are and not letting that hold.
00:17:24.180
If I thought too much about what I look in a bikini, I would never wear one, you know?
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Yeah, but I mean, you can have a modest bikini, pal.
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Everyone is like, no, they should be like this.
00:18:00.340
Everyone just needs to simply mind their own business.
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And when I say that, I don't mean in a bad way.
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It's like, for example, you said, I don't know if you said it.
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And I'm body positive because I, honestly, I've learned to love my body now, Pearl.
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Body positivity is all about just accepting the way you look and being happy.
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And actually just be like, yeah, this is how I look.
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I think we should always be trying to get better.
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We can get better, but it doesn't mean we can't be fly and look off and press ourselves.
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I was just to your point, though, Sugar Puff, right?
00:19:01.880
It's say it's the body positivity movement saying, hey, we should be comfortable as this.
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Where realistically, what if that's killing you?
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And then to your point as well, what Pearl's saying, if it's like smoking, smoking is an addiction.
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You brought up comfort eating and that's how people cope.
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We're going to promote smoking as it's all sweet.
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You know, if you're comfortable smoking and you're happy smoking, keep doing it.
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I think rational people are saying, if you're going to keep going down that route, you're probably going to die.
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Now imagine, yeah, there's a big person and they're already kind of suffering.
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And now they ain't even, they're not even surviving.
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Obviously, you may not do that, but people do that.