LOVE YOURSELF UNCONDITIONALLY!
Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings. Health is just not about the face value and the perfect body contours but is much more than that. We often misinterpret slim to be healthy but on the contrary the athletes who might weigh more are healthier when compared to their stamina and vital blood parameters. Bottom line is that health is more important than looks and its starts with you. If you feel good about yourself and want to be healthier as you age then there is no looking back. But the motivation has to come from within and not from social or peer pressures.
Your worth is not dependent on the number you see on the scale. Saying that I am not advocating underweight and obesity being good and corrective measures should be a part of life to gain or lose weight and once you decide to lose weight, then just do it for yourself and not to satisfy others.
Being plus sized doesn’t make you any less of a person. Your weight isn’t stopping you to accomplish things. It’s your own self-doubt that’s holding you back. That’s why you need to adopt a positive attitude.
Why do we make ourselves feel guilty for eating what we really like? Food is not to be blamed. It is our source of energy and nourishment. So stop labelling the food with negative emotions. The food is not the problem. The problem is that we have been raised to believe that our look is more important. Food shaming or rather body shaming is at an all time high and has the destructive effect of making us feel inadequate and inferior.
Well the point here is not to advocate thigh gap or its anonym mermaid thigh but to stop body shaming as whole.
“Body shaming” is defined as inappropriate negative statements and attitudes toward another person’s weight or size. Skinny, fatso, fatty, chubby, hanger, matchstick, etc. are some of the familiar terms that we use intentionally or unintentionally to address people.
What this brings to light is the fact that this ingrained ‘body shaming’ attitude in us needs to be changed. And it needs to change now, before we raise our children in such a way that they have a pre-conceived notion of ‘beauty’ and ‘attractiveness’ that affects their confidence levels.
The only way to change the course of this tide is to change our own perceptions. Slim does not necessarily equal healthy. You can attain a slim waist by going on a crash diet or by eating nutritious foods matched with your caloric requirements and working out. Obviously the latter is a more long-lasting solution, a lifestyle change that will make you look good as well as feel good. We are in no way propagating obesity or an unfit body. Calculate your BMI and make sure that you are in the recommended category. If not, make lifestyle changes slowly to get there and maintain it. At the end of the day, it is not about one’s thigh gap. What should matter is your heart health, your cholesterol levels, bone strength, your stamina and other such things.
Below are some pointers on what we can do to change this way of thinking:
1. Replace pretty with healthy. When complimenting say words like healthy, strong, your skin is glowing, etc, instead of using pretty handsome or chubby.
2. Make your children choose healthy foods from a younger age. It shouldn’t be a punishment, make them prefer the healthier alternatives by innovating in the kitchen. A healthy body is an attractive body.
3. Set an example yourself. Get into fitness, yoga and clean eating. Not only to lose weight, but to build your core strength and to be healthy.
4. Do not shame anybody in front of your children.
Our body is God’s temple; try to respect and love it.
