Welcome to Ask A Dietitian, a series where Yahoo Canada digs into food trends and popular nutrition questions with registered dietitian Abbey Sharp.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.
In a world dominated by social media images of fitness models and celebrities, the concept of a “goal body” has become pervasive. But is the obsession with achieving a specific physique healthy?
Registered dietitian Abbey Sharp recently responded to an online troll who questioned why they should listen to her if she doesn’t have a “goal body.” The social media user then commented again on one of Sharp’s TikTok videos, claiming a goal body is one “20 pounds lighter” than Sharp’s.
The dietitian responded saying: “If I was 20 pounds lighter… I would be officially very underweight… Which tells me I would need to be physically sick and malnourished for people on the internet like that, to respect my evidence-based content.” Sharp then added, “My body is not my business card… And for the record… I f——— love the body that I have.”
As a dietitian, Sharp says body positivity and weight loss can co-exist, as long as your “body goals” are coming from a place of self-care. She told Yahoo Canada how to set a ‘goal body’ and how to approach weight loss in a healthy, sustainable way.
What is a ‘goal body’?
When asked about the notion of a “goal body,” Sharp noted, the term is “often used on the internet to describe a specific