Body Positivity
Empowerment in Motion: A Comprehensive Guide to Advocating for Yourself at the Gym
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Clarity Fitness®, Georgia’s first eating disorder–informed, body-positive gym in Decatur Georgia, recently teamed up with Sydney Engberg of Whole Self Nutrition for a virtual workshop that flipped the script on traditional wellness. Instead of talking macros, weigh-ins, or “willpower,” this conversation was all about something deeper: nourishment, joy, and coming home to your body.
Sydney, an eating disorder–informed registered dietitian and certified personal trainer in Atlanta, kicked things off with something we don’t hear often in fitness spaces: “Real health doesn’t come from control, it comes from balance and compassion.” That set the tone for a workshop that felt more like a breath of fresh air than a lecture.
Before diving into education, Sydney invited everyone to pause, unclench their jaws, drop their shoulders, take a breath, sip water, settle in. Then she asked:
What drew you here? What do you want to get out of this today?
That theme: coming back to your body instead of battling it, stayed woven through every part of the conversation.
Diet culture reduces nourishment to numbers: calories, steps, macros, oura ring stats, clothing sizes... But Sydney reminded us that nourishment is bigger than that.
“Nourishment is how we care for ourselves as whole humans. Yes, it’s food, but it’s also rest, joy, movement, relationships, and compassion.”
She explained that true health isn’t measured by the scale, but by our relationship with those things. And while diet culture thrives on control, real health grows from trust.
Sydney broke down intuitive eating in a way that made it feel less intimidating and more like coming home. She said intuitive eating isn’t about chaos or just “listening to cravings.” It’s about learning to respond to your body with curiosity rather than judgment.
She shared one of the most powerful evidence-based stats from the research:
“95% of diets fail long term, and most people regain the weight within two to five years, often plus more.”
As a fat positive fitness studio, Clarity Fitness® doesn’t highlight this point to fat shame, but to illustrate that if one is dieting for the sake of weight loss and only weight loss, we caution you. Working with a registered dietitian and exploring things like intuitive eating may allow for better support – not as a diet, but as a self-care framework built on 10 principles like “Make Peace with Food,” “Honor Your Hunger,” and “Respect Your Body.”
The goal isn’t “control”, the goal is trust in yourself.
From there, the conversation moved into fitness, but not the kind obsessed with progress photos or burning calories. Sydney calls it “fitness without fixation.”
“Movement can connect us to our bodies, or completely disconnect us. It depends on the intention behind it.”
She encouraged everyone to ask before their next workout:
She reminded us that joyful movement isn’t just lifting weights or running. It can be dancing in your kitchen, walking your dog, doing housework, working out with one of Clarity’s body positive personal trainers, or taking a group exercise class at Clarity Fitness®. It’s about presence, not performance.
One of the most liberating parts of the webinar came when Sydney unpacked why weight is such a limited marker of health.
“If weight were a perfect indicator of health, we wouldn’t see people of all sizes both thriving and struggling.”
Instead, she emphasized that behaviors like fueling your body, sleep, movement, stress management, and meaningful relationships are far better predictors of long-term health than body size.
Weight is a fast, free, data point that is extremely convenient for insurance companies, not an indicator of your entire health picture or worth as a human.
Letting go of weight-focused goals doesn’t mean never having wellness related goals again (if they bring you joy). Sydney encouraged setting goals that are actually aligned with values.
Instead of:
Try:
Note: losing 10 pounds doesn’t guarantee any of the three following alternative goals, but working toward those if that’s what you really want from a place of respect for your body and yourself will work wonders for your mental, physical, and emotional health.
To close, Sydney led a simple grounding practice around movement. Eyes closed or soft, she asked participants to reflect on any intention they set in their last experience with movement.
This is how we shift movement from punishment to presence.
“Nourishment over numbers” isn’t just a catchy phrase, it’s a mindset. It’s what Clarity Fitness® stands for, and it’s exactly what Sydney brought to life in this workshop.
Real nourishment looks like:
Clarity Fitness® hosts workshops, classes, and community events just like this to help people heal their relationship with movement, food, and themselves right here online and out of our studio in Decatur, Georgia.
