Your Body Is Not Broken: Reframing the Obesity Conversation

If you've struggled with weight, you've probably absorbed a message: that your body is broken. That if you just had more willpower, tried harder, wanted it more—you'd be thin. That weight is a moral issue, and your size reflects your character.

This is wrong. And it's time to release that belief.

The Biology You Were Fighting

Your body isn't broken—it's working exactly as designed. The problem is, it's designed for a world that no longer exists.

Human bodies evolved to survive scarcity. When food was uncertain, bodies that stored energy efficiently, that drove powerful hunger, that resisted weight loss—those bodies survived. Your genes were selected over millions of years to protect against starvation.

Now we live in an environment of constant food abundance, engineered hyper-palatable foods, sedentary work, and chronic stress. Our ancient biology meets a modern world it was never designed for. And for many people, the result is weight gain that willpower alone cannot overcome.

The Research Is Clear

Science has moved far beyond "eat less, move more." We now understand:

• Genetics account for 40-70% of obesity risk—comparable to height
• Hormones regulate hunger in ways conscious will cannot override long-term
• Dieting triggers metabolic adaptations that promote regain
• Brain reward systems differ between people with and without obesity
• Set point theory suggests bodies defend against weight loss

This isn't making excuses. It's recognizing biology. We don't blame people with diabetes for their insulin resistance or people with hypertension for their blood pressure. Obesity is a medical condition with biological roots—not a moral failing.

The Shame That Didn't Help

For decades, the approach to obesity was shame-based: if we made people feel bad enough, they'd change. This approach:

• Increased psychological distress without improving outcomes
• Promoted disordered eating patterns
• Created weight cycling (which may be worse than stable higher weight)
• Caused people to avoid healthcare
• Damaged mental health and self-worth

Shame doesn't work. It never did. If it did, we'd have solved this by now—because there's no shortage of shame available to people with obesity.

What GLP-1 Medication Represents

These medications work because they address biology. They:

• Correct dysregulated hunger signaling
• Reduce the brain's reward response to food
• Slow gastric emptying
• Improve insulin sensitivity

They're not "cheating"—they're treating a medical condition with medical intervention. Just like insulin for diabetes. Just like statins for cholesterol. Just like antihypertensives for blood pressure.

You wouldn't tell someone with diabetes that needing insulin means they failed. Don't tell yourself that needing GLP-1 medication means you failed.

Releasing the Shame

This is an invitation to release beliefs that haven't served you:

• Release the belief that you should have been able to do this alone
• Release the shame of past "failures" (they weren't failures—they were biology)
• Release the idea that medication is weakness
• Release the need to explain or justify your treatment to anyone

You're treating a medical condition. Period.

Moving Forward Without Shame

As you continue your journey, carry this with you:

• Your worth was never determined by your weight
• Your past struggles reflect biology, not character
• Treatment is healthcare, not cheating
• You deserve to feel well in your body
• Compassion toward yourself supports success better than shame

You're Not Broken

You were fighting biology designed to keep you alive. You did your best with incomplete information and inadequate tools. Now you have a tool that works with your biology instead of against it.

That's not weakness. That's wisdom.

Your body isn't broken. It never was. It's remarkably well-designed for a different world. And now, finally, you have help navigating this one.