“Lose the flab, feel fab” – that was the slogan I saw at the window of a popular supplement store. Of course, this is just a marketing catchphrase that is aimed at being simplistic and convincing. But you cannot deny that our industry has always been, and is still very much fat-obsessed.  

For one, gyms’ success stories tend to follow a ‘fat loss’ theme. Many advertisements from gyms tend to introduce their clients as “NAME, X% body fat”, as if their body fat is the only relevant biomarker for how successful they are in reaching a level of fitness. Furthermore, this body fat percentage that is presented is often a single digit. Don’t get me wrong, this body fat percentage is incredibly impressive and should be celebrated. However, it reinforces an association between ‘low body fat’ and ‘high level of fitness’ – which I find reductionistic. Not forgetting that because this number is not sustainable, people should not be staying in that body fat level for the long term either. Moreover, whether the single digit body fat is attainable also depends on many other factors that may be uncontrollable, like one’s genetics, age, sex and gender. It thus paints a distorted image on what it means to be healthy and fit. The rhetoric in fitness classes also often focuses on ‘fat burning’, further perpetuating the narrative that ‘fat is bad’. Recently, I went to a fitness class, where the instructor claimed that “we are burning the fat away in this workout” as a means of motivation. The current obsession on glucagon-like peptide 1 also drives home how fat-focused our industry seems to be. In a nutshell, fat is seen as the antagonist, and should be gotten rid of. But one’s level of body fat is simply not a true and only indication of how good you can feel, how well you perform or how fit and healthy you are. 

Is fat all that bad? 

It is well documented that obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular complications, diabetes, hypertension and other health problems. Obesity has even been shown in Jokela and Laakasuo’s 2023 systematic review, to be a causal risk factor for mental health difficulties like depression. So yes, obesity is bad. And since the World Health Organisation has defined obesity to be “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation”, it is no wonder that fat is so feared. But the association that has been proposed between ‘fat’ and ‘bad’ does not represent a holistic picture of health and wellbeing. Fat is needed to maintain hormonal balance, especially for women. It is also necessary for the health of developing foetuses in pregnant mothers. So, fat is not bad, obesity is.  

How can we change the narrative? 

Extremities in nutrition and fitness are easily popularised in mainstream media and advertising. Extremities like someone who went from 40 to 8 percent body fat work to catch one’s attention. Anyone loves a story of someone going from so called ‘rock bottom’ to ‘skies are the limit level of success’. We love to feel inspired. But I believe that for a long term and sustainable change to our overall well being, we need to re-script our narrative and focus more on ‘gaining’ rather than ‘losing’. A focus on gaining lean mass, gaining muscular strength and power, gaining cardiovascular fitness, and gaining better recovery are much more holistic and powerful indicators of wellness. After all, you can keep gaining lean mass and strength but there is only so much fat you can lose before you lose your mind, amongst other things (ie. hypothalamic amenorrhea, a condition in which someone loses their period). What’s more, the idea of gaining rather than losing is also a great psychological tool for us, loss-averse humans. 

So, here’s to a future of more gains.

About Kymberly Puah

Kymberly holds a Masters in Clinical Psychology and is also a certified Nutritionist. She currently works at Beyond Activ as Partner Development Manager.