Body Positive Power

by Megan Jayne Crabbe

We've been convinced that happiness is something that only comes once we hit that goal weight, get those washboard abs, shrink ourselves down and change every part of ourselves. We believe that our bodies are the problem, but the truth is that our bodies are not the problem. How we've been taught to see them is the problem... it's time for us all to stop believing the lies, and take our power back.

Megan's body image issues began when she was five years old. She spent her childhood chasing thinness, and at fourteen found herself spiralling into anorexia. After recovery she spent years dieting, binging, losing and gaining weight. Then she found body positivity, quit dieting, and finally escaped the cult of thin. Now she's determined to let as many people as possible know the truth: that we are all good enough as we are. If you're tired of being at war with your body, then this book is for you.

With her inimitable flair, whip-smart wit and kickass attitude, Megan argues for a new way of seeing ourselves, and a world where every body is celebrated. Where there is no such thing as a ‘bikini body diet’ and 97% of women don’t hate the way they look.

A powerful call to arms as much as it is inspirational and practical, this book is the life-changing answer you’ve been looking for.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Feminism, Mental Health, Audiobook, Health, Memoir

280 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2018

About the author

Megan Jayne Crabbe is the social media star known online as Bodyposipanda. She's an anorexia survivor, anti-diet enthusiast, and believer in fat acceptance and intersectional body positivity. Her #1 bestselling debut book Body Positive Power has taught thousands of women how to stop dieting and make peace with their bodies for good.

Reviews

[Sanne | Booksandquills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this book! It's probably one of the first books I've actually read about body image and I'm so glad I picked this one. If you're sick of the diet industry and are looking for some much-needed advice from a big sister, this is the read for you. It's got some fantastic stats, tips and discussions that will definitely stay on your mind for the next couple of days. It was a fab combo of personal stories, submitted essays and practical tips. My personal favourite bits were probably about intuitive eating, exercising to be to active and happy instead of losing weight and how to stop caring about 'flattering clothing'.

[Melisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in whatever the opposite of a book slump is! So many good books right now!

With her one million Instagram followers and colorful hair, clothes and personality, this young woman is singlehandedly dismantling the entire diet industry and the world’s perception of beauty.

She has amassed a group of like-minded individuals who all agree: we are worth more than how much we weigh.

Ms. Crabbe is probably significantly younger than I am, however she is much wiser and has completely changed my outlook on body image. As a former ballerina, I have struggled for years with the idea that “thin is best” which is a hugely falsified notion set up by the diet industry to perpetuate an ideal that doesn’t exist. Why? Money.

Megan breaks it down into specific points that will have you second guessing everything you ever thought was true.

I can honestly say that @bodyposipanda and this book have changed my life. And for that, I will be forever thankful.

Thank you to Perseus for my advance copy! This book is now available.

[jenoodle✮⋆˙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

⋆.˚💜৲ ⋆ “𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧.” ⌁ 🦄˚₊‧⁺˖

🍬࿐ ⋆｡˚ Reading this book was like getting a warm hug from a stranger. I FELT SEEN. I FELT HEARD. And most importantly it made me feel loved as I am. As someone who has struggled with eating for atleast 3 years I found this book to be extremely helpful and resourceful. The author gave so many valid points and examples that hating ourselves is NOT the answer and never will be the answer. And I absolutely loved that, because the amount of comfort it gave me was just surreal ˙ ✩°˖ 🍦

HOWEVER, while this book was beautifully written and touched on great topics. I do want to point out a certain part in this book I didn’t quite make sense of nor did I like. That point being that in this book there was a certain chapter that touched on being healthy at every size which is something I DO not agree with. Yes we can love ourselves and yes we can be positive about our weight not fitting a certain standard. But if you are out of breath going up the stairs and can barely breathe in a hospital bed because of your extreme weight, that isn’t healthy and can sometimes lead to death.

I loved this book and certain points it made, but I did disagree with some things like the one mentioned above. But overall this was a pretty good book :)

⋆⁺₊⋆ 💙℩ “𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭.” 🌊⊹˚₊‧


‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋ ‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋ ‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑
💗 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: starting this adorable little book because our bodies are what make us human too 🥹

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I’ve followed Megan Jayne Crabbe on insta for the longest time and I think she’s so inspirational. I love her message and her body positive content. I truly believe people should love themselves no matter what their size, wear what makes them comfortable and pretty much give the middle finger to society if they tell you any different. I wish more people like Megan were around and vocal when I was a teen struggling with my body and an eating disorder.

My biggest issue with this book is I don’t believe in ‘health at every size’. I don’t think you have to fit in a certain chart to be healthy or be a certain weight with a certain BMI, but I also don’t think someone with extremely morbid obesity can be truly healthy just as I don’t think someone anorexic or bulimic can be truly healthy. There are serious health risks for people at both end of the spectrum. Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t love yourself and your body at any size. I think THAT is the point of being body positive and I’m here for that 100%. I also didn’t love reading so much about the diet culture. It took up the bulk of the book for me and I found myself starting to skim those chapters.

I do appreciate the message of loving yourself no matter what size you are and that diets are fads and don’t work. Because I believe in both of those things. I’m not here to judge anyone who wants to get thinner or healthier just as I’m not here to judge anyone who’s overweight and/or obese and happy at their size. You do you. I think that’s the whole point of body positivity. Everyone is beautiful at every size.

Overall, I really do love Megan and think she has a great story that is reliable to me and many others. I love her positive outlook on life and adore her insta. It gives me so many happy feels seeing her posts. I enjoyed reading this book and though I don’t 100% agree with everything, I still got a lot out of it and thought it was a pretty good read.

“If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business.”
-Dr. Gail Dines

[Johann (jobis89) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has an obsessive relationship with food, and as someone who beats herself up over not looking like the fitness models on instagram, this book was EYE-OPENING. We are constantly trying to achieve a body that is just not attainable for so many of us, and yet the diet industry exploits our insecurities to make money off us with their constant “solutions” to a problem that doesn’t need fixed.

This book made me angry in so many ways - which is what the author intends - and I’m taking back ownership of my body. Your self-worth is not attached to your appearance or the number on the scale. Your self-worth is based on who you are as a person - are you kind? Are you caring? Are you a good friend? Are you intelligent? We are so much more than what the media tries to tell us we are. You’re not a failure if you can’t sustain a diet, the diet has failed you - it was never going to work.

I don’t necessarily agree with everything she says - I don’t think anyone should throw caution to the wind and eat whatever they please all the time. I do believe that health is important. And happiness can be found in balance. You can try to be healthier and still be happy and proud of your body.

Highly recommend for people who beat themselves up over their weight or if you’re a serial calorie counter like myself who will never be satisfied with their body. Definitely worth a listen!

[Hayley Chewins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is truly life-changing. I wish I'd read it when I was fifteen and I'm going to be pressing it into the hands of every girl and woman I know.

[Inge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book. 💛

[Elze Reinders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed me in the best and most positive way you can think of. I describe Megan and her healing words as a friend you can sit next to and talk for hours and be completely you and and when you leave you feel so much better about yourself. The feeling you are not judged by what drinks or food you order and eat is the best for a LOT of people. Reading this book brought my body positivity to a next and better level. Change the way you think about your body is all about mental health. Acceptance already started, Megan offered embracement and love for my beautiful body. That's a gift I will never forget about. I'm in tears writing this because I'm having a hard time, struggling with mental health issues and the funny thing is that my issues aren't completely solved but this book is a big part of getting better. I can feel it. I've been extremely aware about my physical appearance since early puberty and there was not one moment I did not hate what I saw when I looked in a mirror or passed a (shopping) window. I've gained so much weight and lost so much weight by dieting just to gain weight again...now I know I was close to a severe eating disorder. Megans writing about intuitive eating helps me so much to connect with my body again. Also I loved the part about moving and exercise. Thank you Megan, I wished it was there 20 years earlier but it's never too late. I bought a dress, it has bright colors and showing boobs and legs and I love it. Five stars isn't enough. Read it.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I‘m going to stop reading this for good now, at page 73! This is a small review I wrote somewhere around page ~40:

„I’m sad to say that so far this book is all about how bad the industry is for not showing us big people and how much it has to change to the author’s liking. So far no word about how you can actually manage to love yourself. Because I, for one, am pretty sure I dislike my belly because it wobbles, not because I see no wobbly belly on billboards. It‘s my personal taste and I don‘t care if it‘s my taste because that‘s what I‘ve been „brainwashed“ to like. You cannot change the industry in a few weeks, but I was indeed hoping to change my image of myself within that time, so it‘s pointless to keep raging about the industry. The rest I read so far sounds like the author is bitter because she never managed to keep her weight down (and healthy) and now tries to persuade everyone to never even try to lose weight. It‘s bs, though, because if you do it right it will work (I made it), but indeed not with those ridiculous juice cleanses and detoxes she keeps bashing. I really hope there will be more about actually loving yourself later on. And about how not all diets are bad. 🙄“

30 pages later the author still kept raging about the same things. Weightloss Groups are bad, Teatox doesn‘t work and diet pills may actually be toxic. Which is all true. But how can you say, and this is a direct quote from page 68: „Diets. Don‘t. Work.“, and that no-one who has ever lost weight has ever been able to keep it off for more than 2 years. Again: I have lost 35+ kilograms and I‘ve kept them off for far more than 2 years. Why? Because I have actually changed my eating habits and, lo and behold, do sports. Nowhere on the 73 pages I read did the author say that you have to move, get out, do sports, as well. It‘s always the same old about all the unhealthy ways she tried and failed to lose weight for good.

This book teaches you nothing about how to love yourself. It only tells you that shakes and pills and teas and strict meal plans don‘t work anyway, so your only chance is to accept yourself as you are. How? No idea. But I do hope there will be something sometime later in the book. I will never know because I‘ve had my fill of bitter bs.

It‘s sad because I was really looking forward to reading this. :(

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Megan's voice is strong, funny and uplifting. I recommend this book to absolutely everyone, no matter their size or gender.

[tiger lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Megan, I love the bopo movement, and I love how passionate Megan is about getting her message out there. Body Positive Power is a much-needed book which rips Western beauty standards a new one.

The issues I have with this book which stopped me from completely loving it, is largely how this book offers next to no information about the complexity and diversity of the various causes of eating disorders, at the same time as encouraging us to focus our energy on being angry about the culture we live in which encourages us to hate ourselves for profit. Yes, our culture is dreadful when it comes to celebrating only one narrow definition of beauty, but it just cannot be 100% to blame for the entirety of what actually goes into creating eating disorders. I really wish that Megan would have put more emphasis on the root causes of something as complex as this, as she could have brought so much more education and awareness about eating disorders, and their causes (and so recovery from them) to her readers and fans.

"By the time you were finished with the diet-industry chapter, you were probably good and raging. Because at that point, one thing will have become abundantly clear: we've been set up to hate our bodies from the start. As soon as we were born into a culture that's willing to sacrifice half the population's mental health in order to turn a profit, we were screwed. From day one. There was no way for us to escape the body-image issues that were waiting. I want you to really think about that, and how it makes you feel, so that you can channel that emotion into fighting back."

I just don't feel that placing the blame so entirely on diet / beauty culture is the way forward, and could even be harmful and counter-intuitive when it comes to serious recovery. I know for myself, and many others with histories of eating disorders, the things which brought our disorders into being were simply not just purely a result of the media. It's just not that simple. It can be as a result of many factors which have nothing to do with the media, such as: childhood abuse, trauma, genetics, having family members who struggled with eating disorders or other mental illnesses, difficulties with sexual identity, a need for control, and so much more.

I'm not at all saying that culture plays no hand at all in the development of eating disorders, but that it's just much more complicated than that. With the constant emphasis on diet / beauty culture being responsible, it brings about a sense that we are simply all doomed, and you come away feeling that there doesn't exist a single woman in the Western world who doesn't loathe her body, which just isn't true. Sure, many of us absolutely struggle, and struggle hard, but it still stands to reason that there do exist women who have managed to grow into adults who were able to deflect the messages from the media, and focus on themselves as people. It would have been great to give voice to those women who are already positive about their bodies, and how they managed to escape unscathed, so we can learn better from those women around us and be inspired by them, too.

The shortest chapter of the book is the one chapter which focuses entirely on how to actually make peace with your body. I can't help but feel that it should be the longest, being as it's the most positive and constructive. More information on male body image issues wouldn't have gone amiss, either.

I feel bad about how this review isn't as great as I thought it would be, because I absolutely champion Megan on her amazing work. I just reached a point where I started to feel, "Okay, okay, I get it. The media is terrible, we all hate ourselves, and we've all been doomed from the start - but what else is going on here? What about all of these other things which go into eating disorders? Where do we go from here?"

[M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I decided to Google this author and I saw a lot of pictures of her. There were a few of her anorexic self, even fewer of her at a healthy weight, and PLENTY of her "body positive" self - particularly in underwear. From the search, there seems to be just as many (if not more) pics of her in her underwear than regular clothing.

I certainly won't say she looked better anorexic, nor am I pro-ana, but just because one extreme is not healthy doesn't mean that the other extreme on that spectrum is healthy either - overeating is just as much of an ED as under-eating and it seems like Megan just traded one ED for another, albeit an "easier" one.

Because apparently there's no room for a happy medium between anorexia and over-eating.

The book was just what I expected - a long rant against the fashion/diet industry and how the big, bad industry makes women feel bad about their bodies. Which, in itself, isn't a lie. Kate Moss (or whoever is her equivalent in 2020) certainly isn't someone to aspire to, but Fat Acceptance proponents aren't people to aspire to, either. Especially when said FA proponents, the author included, cherry-pick science and health research to get to the conclusions that they so desperately want.

Megan says that dieting is bad (multiple times) and claims that there is no such thing as a "bad" food.

It's pretty obvious from all the fat rolls in her underwear pictures and her ever-increasing size (thanks, Google!) that she takes these beliefs to heart, and that we should just give up on things like portion control or moderation because fee-fees are more important than actually taking care of yourself.

Jesus Christ, whatever happened to moderation and common sense?

[Marta Iwaniuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book makes me want to go back in time and hug my 10-year-old self. tell this sad, insecure girl who's just cried over her weight for the first time that she's enough. or even better, i wish i could read this book back then. Megan is a beautiful, incredible and brave person and she's exactly what we need these days. I remember coming across her instagram account and being fascinated by a video of her dancing in her underwear. I couldn't believe you could look like this and be that self-confident. I've just finished the book and it's a bit too early for me to write an actual review as I need time for some thoughts to settle in but for now the best thing I can say is - Megan, on behalf of this 10-year-old girl disgusted by her weight, the 16-year-old battling an eating disorder, and the person I am now, still miles away from body positivity but for the first time feeling I can change things; thank you.

[Frida Sillehoved · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sooo excited when I found out that @Bodyposipanda published a book, and even more when I finally had the copy in my hands, but I got so disappointed when I found out, that the book was more about the fault in our culture rather than changing your own body issues. It was like reading one long negative comment on how the diet culture is fucking up our body image. It was well written though with a good structure, great arguments and reliable sources, but I still missed the kick-ass--how-to-love-yourself part. It's great for finding out why your having body issues, but not so much for inspiration to love your self as a fat & fab lady.

[Zoë ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love her mindset!! It was definitely inspiring to read :)

[Céline · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever had negative thoughts about the way your body looks, this is for you.
If you have ever tried starving yourself and exercising in order to obtain a smaller, slimmer, more toned body than the one you have, this book is for you.
If you have ever told youself that you are not worthy of love, self-love and happiness, this book is for you.
If none of the above apply to you, this book is for you.
There is a powerful message here that you need to hear.

Personally, I have spent my teenage years and early adulthood hating myself. Since I have an average sized body, most people (including my skinny friends) told me that I shouldn't be ashamed of my looks. But for me it wasn't that easy; it's what immediately came to mind each time I looked in a mirror or saw photos of myself: you're just not worthy. I still do sometimes.
There's so much out there that I forbade and isolated myself from, just because I didn't feel comfortable in how I looked and who I was. That's not how it should be, I see that now.

It's a long way to go and I've only just begun. But I'm working on getting there. And this book made me take the first step. It's about damn time.

I deserve it all - and so do you.

[Jolien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm definitely buying a paperback of this book so I can annotate it and come back to it all the time. I would highly recommend the audiobook though! It's fantastic.

[Laurelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book (the first I ever read about body positivity) for so many reasons, but mostly because its message is so gentle and kind (self love and acceptance) yet delivered in such a kick-ass way ✌🏻️

It's really good to see how much the diet culture is detrimental to EVERYONE (although it's somehow depressing to see how much it pervades the whole of our society..) + to hear a different message for once : you don't need to be thin to be worthy of love. You're worthy of love whatever size, shape, colour, gender, ability, etc you are ❤️✨

And this is also not a book about nutrition but about body image. Meghan never gives any health advice other than love yourself + eat intuitively + exercice for fun, if you want to! It's all very refreshing and freeing.

A must read, whether you're fat or not, just to hear something different from what we hear and see every day everywhere.

[Sara-Jayne Poletti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mix of memoir and diet culture exposé with a dash of self help. For anyone recovering from an eating disorder or disordered eating, I highly recommend it.

Megan’s writing is gentle and loving, and she really makes the effort both to celebrate ALL bodies (regardless of ability, race, gender, etc.—she even has guest writers to balance her perspective!) and to meet you where you are.

Did it blow my mind? No. To be honest, I was already well-versed with the sneaky ways of the diet industry + the changing definition of beauty over time and cultures. It definitely made me delete My Fitness Pal, though, and it’s given me a lot to think about (and a lot of book recommendations for my TBR).

Did I enjoy it? Yes! I liked learning more about her personal story, and there are a lot of good tips on how to really incorporate body acceptance and appreciation into your daily life.

[Enotka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Я ніколи не була одержимою своєю вагою, але усвідомлювала, що деякі кілограми таки зайві. Але сила волі у мене слабенька - тому схуднути мені ніколи не вдавалося, тому я не знаю смаку перемоги на цьому фронті. В якийсь момент я просто задовбалася думати, що колись схудну і навіть перестала ставати на ваги.

Ця книжка більше для тих, хто одержимий кілограмами і калоріями. Нічого особливо нового, але дуже життєствердно (особливо для часу різдвяно-новорічних марафонів).

Ми всі варті любові незважаючи на те, скільки кілограмів показують наші ваги)

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

REALLY made me see how our ideals of perfect bodies have been distorted, and makes you think about who has led those changes and why. I love how inspiring this is without being sugary sweet and fluffy. It's real, with real language. Crabbe knows what you would say in rebuttal and tells you like it is. I also really appreciate the trigger warnings.

[mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

Body positivity is about accepting our bodies as they are, at any size, and challenging the oppressive systems that teach us we aren’t allowed to do that.

I’ve been aware of the body positivity movement for a few years now, but even with that history, this book was revelatory. I must have highlighted and annotated half the dang book. Simultaneously a takedown of diet culture, a rousing call to fight internalized and externalized fatphobia, and a tender manifesto for self-acceptance, Body Positive Power was filled with such research- and empathy-fueled passion that I plan to recommend it to just about anyone I talk about books or body image with - basically, all the women in my family.

That’s not to say that certain parts of the book weren’t heartbreaking to read. The earlier sections of the book, which discuss the harm caused by diet culture and the fixation on people’s weight, were both horrifying in their scope and in their personal relevance. The fact- and anecdote-studded essays making it clear how much the moralizing of fatness has hurt my loved ones and myself was emotionally wrenching. Despite that, Megan Jayne Crabbe wrote these sections gracefully and chose her diverse essay contributors well. Her tone was never condescending to the reader; it was instead consistently frank and warm.

My favorite portions of the book were the takedowns of fitspo (fitness inspiration) culture that’s currently trendy on the internet, the sections on intuitive eating and exercising, and the essays on how the medical industry treats its perceived-overweight patients unjustly. I loved how she consistently welcomed and boosted the voices of disabled people, queer folks, and people of color. (Side note - one of the things that drew me to the cover of the e-galley of it initially was the author’s beautiful hair, the colors of which reminded me of the bi pride flag! I don’t know if that’s what she was going for, but it made me happy.)

If I were to criticize anything about this book - and this is me really reaching for stuff to quibble about - it would be that some of the discussions (like about fitspo culture and some of the more internet-based topics) could have used a smidge more introduction for people less internet-savvy. The reason I even thought of that is because I actually called my mom on one of my lunch breaks spent reading this, telling her how much I liked it, and she mentioned that she might want to read it. And I would love it if she did, but I don’t know how much she’d connect to stuff discussing instagram, at least not without context.

On a final note: I wish I’d had this book as a teenager. It’s taken me a long time to accept my grown body for how it is, and I think the journey would’ve been a million times smoother and less harmful to myself if I’d been surrounded with voices like this author’s telling me that, however I look and at whatever size I am, it’s okay. As my body continues to grow and change as I age, I know I can come back to this book and be inspired to treat myself with love and gentleness. I hope this book is able to reach other folks who need a similar voice in their lives.

[Anne-Elise Schoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wat een fantastisch boek! Het heeft zoveel prachtige, humoristische en belangrijke boodschappen erin; ik raad het iedereen aan om te lezen :)
De enige reden dat ik er geen 5 sterren voor heb gegeven, is dat sommige stukken af en toe wat langdradig waren, maar ik vond dat zelf niet onwijs storend.
Zelf heb ik bij elk mooi/belangrijk/levensveranderend stuk een tab geplaatst en je raad het al: het hele boek zit er nu vol mee. Ik ga het zeker nog eens lezen.
Kortom: Lees dit geweldige boek, het is onwijs leerzaam en kan je leven veranderen!

[Diemmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn’t read further any more I’m at page 80. And it’s only about how bad the dieetculture and the ideal body is and not about how you actually can love yourself. It’s so negative written instead of positive. I’m so disappointed with this book.

[Rowie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout 2021 I noticed myself getting more and more insecure about my body. This wasn't an unfamiliar feeling and it used to be worse but slowly I felt myself not feeling good enough. Maybe it was the lockdowns, maybe it was zoomcalls where I couldn't position my camera to hide the fat under my chin. That part always makes me insecure.

This book truly helped me on the way to love my body more. It explains the nonsense of the diet industry, but also of our perception of fat in general. I read this book in my native language (Dutch) so everything would really sink in.

I've already said goodbye to weighing myself after obsessivly checking my weight in my teens when I was underweight and didn't eat much. But this book gave me the wake-up call that I am good enough. We are all good enough.

[Jasmin (notashotasmyteapot) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uff... this was a hard one.

It really was a hard audiobook to listen to because of the content. I could often only listen to little bits at a time and needed to take several days (weeks) in between listening sessions to digest what I was being told about diet culture, weight loss, beauty, mental health and Megan's own story.

I think the reason why it was so hard for me personally, was that someone for the first time really deconstructed and challenged a huge part of my world view that I was unconsciously living and participating in. At the very same time however, I knew that what I was learning about to be true. It's like that thing you've always kinda, sort of knew was there but ignoring it is definitley easier so you do that. Body Positive Power, however, opened all the doors and windows and said: "Look!" and once I did I couldn't look away anymore. With each chapter the book slowly changed my world view on diet culture, beauty and weight loss in particular (there are a lot of other topics brought up such as mental and physical health, eating disorders, exercise addiction). And this change, this beginning of deconstructing entire beliefs I've had been taught my whole life was HARD! but oh so bloody necessary!!

I really loved all the references to other books dealing with the same or similar topics, as well as all the affirming and encouraging of a more postive outlook on all kinds of bodies. I especially loved that the end of the book answered some commonly asked questions and gave a little directive on what to do after the intricacies of the diet culture industries have been exposed to you and how to start on the journey of a body postive life.

On a more personal note:
I can't really seperate my personal feelings towards this book as it couldn't have come at a better time for myself. I've been trying to implement a healthier and fitter lifestyle lately as I've struggled with some personal health issues that left me very very unfit. The book helped to remind me and find a way to be active without making weight loss the priority. Instead I could focus on what felt good when I moved and reconnect with my body. While I am certainly still learning and figuring things out as I go, a lot of shame and pressure that I used to feel about exercising has largely dissapeared. I am so so so grateful for what this reading/listening experience has brought to me and my life.

Thank you Megan Jane Crabbe for opening the doors to Body Positivity for me.

Also, your voice is so soothing! I love listening to it! :D

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was definitely a case of right book at the right time.

Megan's Instagram account was the first body positivity account I stumbled upon when I was in the depths of my worst Anorexia relapse yet a few years ago. It was like a revelation. I've since been in recovery coming on my second year now but recently I've been "having a little wobble" so I really really needed to read this.

I think this book was really well put together. I loved all the little snippets of studies and facts, rather than someone just spouting their own opinions as gospel. I also enjoyed the stories from other people, it helps to see there's so many others going through the same thing.

Also, YES to putting trigger warnings in! I've read a few body positivity books that had been in dire need of this so I applaud Megan for doing this!

I agree with some reviews I've read that there is quite a bit I'm already familiar with from following body positive social media but this didn't bother me at all. It doesn't hurt to be reminded and I think to have a physical book in your hands that you can keep going back to over and over again is brilliant!

[Marieke | Marieke's Books]

Ik denk niet dat ik dit boek ooit ga uitlezen.. En niet omdat ik het boek slecht vind hoor! Ik ben alleen echt geen persoon voor non-fictie. Ik vind het voornamelijk saai en ik heb vaak moeite met bij het verhaal blijven. Het voelt gewoon een beetje als een schoolboek en daar ben ik ook geen fan van 😅 Begrijp me niet verkeerd: dit boek heeft een erg belangrijke boodschap en ik vind Megan echt geweldig, maar ik hou het dan wel bij haar Instagram volgen (wat trouwens echt een aanrader is!).

[Annabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Full review will be up on my blog on the day of te dutch release of this book! But this book gave me so much inside into how I've been thinking al this time!

[Lotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moet op je leeslijstje!