Let’s be honest: loving your body all the time can feel unrealistic, especially when you’re dealing with hormonal conditions like PCOS or navigating a fertility journey. Some days, your body might feel like it’s working against you rather than with you.
Body neutrality offers a helpful middle ground. Rather than demanding constant positivity about your appearance, body neutrality takes the pressure off how you look and focuses instead on respect, function, and care.
“Most of us have never been asked how we feel about our bodies in a medical appointment. But the shame, fear, and conditioning we carry about how our bodies look affect how we advocate for ourselves, the care we accept, the appointments we avoid, and the stress we carry into every cycle. Body image isn’t a side issue in PCOS support. It sits right at the heart of it. Body neutrality offers a way to start unpicking that.”
Let’s look at the meaning of body neutrality and how you can practice it in everyday life.
What is body neutrality?
Body neutrality is a mindset that de-emphasises appearance and shifts focus to what your body does rather than how it looks. The concept centres on body functionality – appreciating your body as a functional vessel that carries you through life.
You don’t have to feel grateful for your appearance or celebrate every aspect of how you look – it’s simply about respect. You acknowledge your body’s capabilities, treat it with care, and reduce the mental energy spent on appearance-based judgment.
The body neutrality movement gained traction in the late 2010s, popularised by body image advocates and wellness professionals on social media who recognised that not everyone could – or wanted to – embrace body positivity (i.e., loving your body).
Research has since found that body neutrality can be a useful and accessible way to approach body image, serving as a helpful coping strategy.
Body neutrality vs body positivity
There’s some (understandable) confusion about whether body neutrality is fundamentally different from body positivity or simply a rebranding of the same concept.
Both approaches have value – neither is inherently ‘better’. They simply serve different needs and resonate with different people.
Here’s a quick comparison:
| Aspect | Body positivity | Body neutrality |
| Focus | Appearance and celebrating your body | Function and what your body can do |
| Emotional demand | Requires active love and appreciation | Allows for acceptance without enthusiasm |
| Accessibility | Can feel difficult during health struggles | Often more achievable during difficult periods |
| Goal | Love your body as it is | Respect your body regardless of feelings |
That said, body positivity can feel particularly challenging when you’re living with PCOS symptoms like weight fluctuations, acne, excess hair growth or fertility struggles.
These symptoms are often framed as appearance ‘problems,’ but it’s worth noting that this framing comes from “beauty ideals that have nothing to do with your health or worth.” (The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf, 1990).
When your body doesn’t conform to those narrow ideals, being told to simply ‘love yourself’ can feel dismissive rather than helpful. Body neutrality offers permission to simply coexist with your body without forcing positive feelings.
Why body neutrality can be helpful for people with PCOS
Living with PCOS can make it easy to feel frustrated or self-critical about your body. Hormonal imbalances can affect your appearance in several ways – body neutrality offers a way to focus on what your body does for you, rather than how it looks.
Helps reduce self-blame
Body neutrality can help reduce self-blame, and comparison by reframing your body as something that’s adapting and communicating rather than failing.
Instead of viewing PCOS symptoms as personal shortcomings, you can recognise them as your body’s way of responding to hormonal imbalances – something that deserves understanding and support, not criticism.
Supports mental health and wellbeing
Research shows that appreciating your body’s functionality is associated with:
- Fewer body image problems
- Lower levels of disordered eating
- Better mental health and wellbeing
For women with PCOS, this shift from appearance to function can be transformative, reducing the emotional load of navigating a healthcare system that often focuses on how your body looks rather than how it feels.
Supports healthy choices
Practising body neutrality can make it easier to care for yourself in ways that actually feel good, not because you’re trying to change your body, but because your body deserves care regardless of its size or how it’s functioning on any given day.
So many of us have been conditioned from a young age to believe that certain bodies are broken bodies.
Think about it: how many times have you seen someone who looks like you represented as someone who easily gets pregnant, has a straightforward pregnancy, or is celebrated exactly as they are in a fertility clinic?
That conditioning doesn’t come from nowhere, and it doesn’t come from evidence.
It comes from a system that profits from us feeling like our bodies are the problem. When I work with folks, we actually build an evidence bank together: a real, running list of everything their body is doing right. It’s a small thing, but it genuinely changes how people relate to their bodies during one of the most vulnerable times of their lives.
That, to me, is body neutrality in practice: not forcing yourself to love your body, but gently unpicking the conditioning that told you it was never good enough in the first place.”
Body neutrality and fertility journeys
Body neutrality can be particularly valuable when you’re trying to conceive (TTC) or undergoing fertility treatment. Fertility journeys often involve navigating a body that feels unpredictable – cycles that don’t follow textbook patterns, treatments that affect your weight and mood, or simply the uncertainty of knowing when or if conception will happen.
During this time, trying to maintain body positivity can feel exhausting. Body neutrality offers a gentler approach: trusting your body to do what it can, while recognising that fertility is complex and not always within your control.
It means letting go of appearance-based control during medical processes like IVF and instead focusing on treating your body with respect – nourishing it, resting when needed, and acknowledging that preparing your body for IVF or natural conception is about function and health, not achieving a certain look.
“One of the things I hear most from folks going into fertility appointments is that they’ve spent hours making sure they look ‘put together’ before they go in. Perfect nails, hair done, nicely dressed. And when we dig into that, it’s rarely about feeling good for themselves. It’s armour. It’s a way of saying ‘please don’t judge me, please treat me with care, please see past my body.’ The exhausting thing is that nobody should have to perform their way into compassionate medical care. Body neutrality in a clinical setting isn’t about feeling great about your body while a doctor examines it. It’s about knowing that your comfort matters more than your doctor’s opinion of your body. It’s about making decisions based on what feels right for you, not what makes the medical system more comfortable. That’s a radical act, and it takes real practice.”
How to practice body neutrality day to day
Body neutrality is a practice, not a destination. Here are practical ways to incorporate this mindset into your everyday life.
Shift the focus from appearance to function
Start noticing what your body does rather than how it looks. This might include:
- Appreciating your strength during a workout
- Acknowledging healthy digestion
- Noticing when your energy levels improve
- Recognising menstrual cycles as communication from your body
- Celebrating recovery from illness or injury
These functional aspects deserve attention and gratitude, regardless of appearance.
Use neutral body language
Pay attention to how you talk to and about your body. Swap appearance-based thoughts for factual, neutral statements:
- Instead of: “My stomach looks bloated and awful”
- Try: “My stomach feels full right now. That’s information, not a judgement”
- Instead of: “I hate how my thighs look”
- Try: “My legs carried me through my walk today”
This shift in language can gradually change how you relate to your body.
The neutral body language ‘ladder’
Nicola Salmon, fat-positive fertility specialist and author of Fat and Fertile, uses what she calls the ‘ladder technique’ with her clients, the idea that you don’t have to leap straight to a neutral thought. You just need to find the next rung up from where you are right now.
So, if ‘my stomach feels full and that’s just information’ feels completely out of reach, start here instead:
‘My stomach looks bloated and awful’
↓
‘My stomach feels uncomfortable today’
↓
‘My body is giving me information right now’
↓
‘My stomach feels full. That’s just information, not a judgement’
You don’t have to get to the top of the ladder straight away. One rung at a time is enough.
Curate your social media environment
Your social media feed significantly influences how you think about bodies and health. Consider:
- Unfollowing accounts that focus heavily on appearance, weight loss, or before/after transformations
- Following educators, healthcare professionals and brands, and people sharing lived experiences with conditions like PCOS
- Seeking out content that centres on health, functions, and evidence-based information rather than aesthetics
Creating a more neutral digital environment reduces constant appearance comparisons.
Choose movement for how it feels
Reframe exercise away from calorie-burning or body-changing goals. Instead, choose movement based on:
- How it makes you feel during and after
- Whether it gives you energy or helps you manage stress
- Whether it’s something you actually enjoy, or can do with people who make you feel good
Movement becomes an act of body respect rather than punishment or transformation.
Practice body respect on difficult days
Body neutrality doesn’t mean feeling neutral all the time – that’s unrealistic. On days when symptoms flare, weight changes, or energy is low, body neutrality looks like:
- Acknowledging discomfort without self-blame
- Meeting your body’s needs (rest, gentle movement, nourishing food)
- Recognising that difficult days don’t diminish your body’s worth
- Giving yourself permission to feel frustrated without spiralling into shame.
Body respect remains possible even when body positivity feels out of reach.
Common myths about body neutrality
Let’s clear up some common misunderstandings:
Myth: Body neutrality means giving up on health
Actually, the opposite is true, and the evidence is clear on this.
Shame and stress don’t just make it harder to make healthy choices – they actively harm your body. Chronic stress raises cortisol levels, increases inflammation, and can disrupt hormonal balance, all things that matter enormously for conditions like PCOS.
When people feel judged or shamed in medical settings, they avoid appointments, delay seeking care, and internalise the message that their body is the problem rather than the system failing them.
Body neutrality isn’t giving up on health. It’s removing one of the biggest barriers to it.
Myth: Body neutrality means giving up on health
While there’s overlap, body neutrality specifically removes the pressure to love or celebrate your appearance. It’s a distinct approach that many find more accessible.
Myth: You have to feel neutral all the time
Body neutrality is flexible. You’ll have days when you feel frustrated, anxious, or even positive about your body. The practice is about not letting appearance-based judgements dominate your self-worth or daily mental energy.
Myth: Body neutrality means not caring about your appearance at all
Body neutrality isn’t about pretending you don’t have a body or forcing yourself not to care how you look. You can still enjoy getting dressed or doing your hair. The difference is that these choices come from a place of pleasure or self-expression, not from feeling like you need to fix or hide something.
Wrapping up
Supporting your body’s function through targeted supplements can be part of the respectful approach of body neutrality.
Inofolic AlphaPlus has been specifically studied in women with bigger bodies.
The blend of myo-inositol, alpha-lactalbumin, d-chiro-inositol, and folic acid helps to manage PCOS symptoms and support hormonal balance – not for appearance’s sake, but to help your body function optimally, whatever your size.
Remember, body neutrality isn’t a destination you arrive at one day. It’s something you come back to, again and again, especially on the hard days.
And if you’re navigating PCOS, fertility challenges, or simply a world that has very loud opinions about what your body should look like, that practice matters more than most people realise. You deserve care that meets you where you are. Not where someone else thinks you should be.
References
Almhmoud H, Alatassi L, Baddoura M, Sandouk J, Alkayali MZ, Najjar H, Zaino B. Polycystic ovary syndrome and its multidimensional impacts on women’s mental health: a narrative review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2024;103(25):e38647. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11191963/
Linardon J, Messer M, Tylka TL. Functionality appreciation and its correlates: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Body Image. 2023;45:65-72. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36796304/
