There are not concrete, agreed-upon definitions for these, so it is a bit open for individual interpretation. Our response would be “no.” While the body positive movement originated in the 1960s and 1970s with fat Black activists focusing on ending discrimination against fat people, the movement has been co-opted by people (often thin cis white women) with a focus on selling things, prioritizing thin or straight-sized people (and not people at higher weights), and on individual behaviors rather than the way society treats people in larger bodies. This is not necessarily true for everyone using the “body positive” label, but it can sometimes be hard to tell. For us, body liberation encompasses doing both our own Body Trust® work and our efforts to reduce weight stigma and bias in public health and our society. Unpacking our own internalized weight bias and using that to move forward our individual behaviors and experience as well as systemic change are important components of body liberation work. Here are some articles with more details:

• The Problem With Body Positivity: As Long as Doctors Judge Your Looks, Nothing Will Change
• Why I’m Trading Body Positivity for Fat Acceptance
• A Brief History of the Fat Acceptance Movement

No, the body liberation movement is for anyone with a body! While the stereotype of “women dieting” (usually white, cisgender) certainly exists, in reality, diet culture and weight stigma impact all of us. To be clear, people in larger bodies face real physical and mental harms from systems that favor smaller bodies, but people in smaller or straight-size bodies are also harmed - often living with a learned fear of becoming fat, and therefore spending time, money and even risking their well-being trying to stay thin. The negative impacts of weight stigma compound when we hold multiple marginalized identities as well– which makes body liberation and systemic changes even more necessary for many of us. For just a few examples of the many diverse people involved in this movement, check out:

• Nalgona Positivity Pride with Gloria Lucas
• Caleb Luna 
• De’Shaun L. Harrison 
• Jeffry J. Iovannone 
• Aaron Flores

If the goal is weight loss, then we would call it dieting. There is nothing wrong with adopting health behaviors if you want to improve things like fitness, strength, sleep, nutrition, social connections, focus, etc. It is also true that we can be of many minds at once– there may always be a part of us that wants to lose weight, and there may be other parts of us invested in health behaviors regardless of weight change. It is important to try to discern our motivations. We would ask a few  questions:

1. How am I determining success? The false proxy of BMI should have no role. It is popular these days for someone to say that they are doing something “for health, not to lose weight,” but the unspoken success marker is often still “losing xx pounds.” If you want to take a quick walk during your lunch break each day to improve fitness and get some fresh air, then reaching your heart rate or steps goal during lunch could count as successful! Learning to separate health promoting behaviors from weight and size can create many more opportunities for experiencing success.
2. How does my body feel? Am I paying attention to signals from my body, including hunger, fatigue, and pain? Am I overriding those signals based on messages from others (media, doctors, family, etc) about what I should or should not be doing? Does the part of me that wants to lose weight or stay thin make all of the decisions regardless of what feels right for me and my body?
3. Am I considering all dimensions of health? Am I able to prioritize other facets of health? While we obviously often focus on one aspect over another at times, all dimensions must be considered in the overall picture. Spending so much time at the gym that social connections are ignored, or worrying so much about food choices that anxiety and stress increase are examples of prioritizing the idea of physical health over social or mental health– and this likely may not be any better for our overall health.
   
   

For further information, check out the concepts of “healthism” and “orthorexia,” starting with these resources:

• Scarff J. R. (2017). Orthorexia Nervosa: An Obsession With Healthy Eating. Federal practitioner: for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS, 34(6), 36–39.
  
  
• “We Have to Stop Thinking of Being ‘Healthy’ as Being Morally Better” by Aubrey Gordon in Self, August 7, 2020