Gabriela Lazcano, a former body positivity influencer, recently shared her experiences with the New York Times. She discussed her shift from being a strong advocate for the movement to stepping away, citing concerns about promoting unhealthy lifestyles.
Starting her online journey in 2010, Lazcano didn’t plan to become an influencer. But with the encouragement of other plus-size women, she began to promote the idea of “loving yourself at any size.” However, over time, she noticed significant weight gain, which hindered her ability to enjoy activities she once loved, like traveling and amusement park rides.
“There were days when I looked at pictures and didn’t recognize myself,” she reflected. “I was only 5 feet tall and nearly 400 pounds at my heaviest. I started to think that maybe loving myself at any size wasn’t the answer to my weight issues. It felt like I was being brainwashed.” She also observed that discussions around body positivity were becoming increasingly extreme.
Lazcano began the movement initially with the hope of creating a supportive community, but found it was growing increasingly hostile toward weight loss, even for health reasons.
As the body positivity discourse changed, she felt afraid to voice her thoughts. This silence became overwhelming after she lost a friend, a fellow influencer and founder of the first plus-size salon, which prompted her to reevaluate her position.
In 2023, she criticized the body positivity movement in a video, expressing guilt for her previous participation and asserting that concern for one’s health should not be equated with fatphobia. Since then, she has distanced herself from the community but claims she has lost weight and feels more like her old self.
While she still supports the essence of body positivity, especially against the rise of trends like “SkinnyTok,” she emphasized the critical need to acknowledge the health risks associated with obesity. “Even knowing those risks, we can still embrace body positivity. We can love ourselves while desiring to change,” she stated, defining true body positivity as accepting oneself at any size while allowing for the freedom to change that size.
