If you're an average female young adult, confidence is hard. Looking in the mirror sucks, succumbing to your sweet tooth every once in a while sucks, and you feel guilty for sitting down for too long.
Up until six months ago, I felt like that every day. I pretty much hated myself, and every selfie or night out I was picking out my flaws. It often felt like there was no end to the things I didn't like about me, and I hated the gym. My boyfriend is also a bodybuilder, so you can imagine the kind of pressure I felt to work out and be healthy to look good next to him. Mind you, he never made me feel bad, in fact he told me I didn't need it, that I looked great.
But that doesn't make the voice inside your head stop.
Finally, I had an epiphany; I'm choosing not to change myself. By complaining every day, and not changing anything, I was being an enemy to my body. So, I bought a gym membership, and I went at least every other day, if not more. Six months later, my whole perspective has changed.
I no longer hate the gym, or myself, and even though I'm not 100 percent happy with my body yet, I feel great. I feel healthy. I realized that this is the point of the gym; not to try and match a model, or fit into a stereotype, but to be healthy. Of course, I would love to look like a model, but is that realistic? Not at all. A college student with responsibilities like homework and a job cannot put in the necessary time to be a model, too. I'm okay with that, thanks to the gym and the motivation I feel every day I work out, and better myself for me.
It's not about the pictures. It's not about the paleo diet, the teeny tiny waist, or the butt. It's about you. Nowadays, it's popular to live an unhealthy lifestyle and feel confident in that, and if someone were to come up to me and say they feel amazing and they are completely happy with themselves living that life, then kudos to you. If you're like me, then you can't be that lazy, Beyoncé-confident person, and you also can't be a bikini model. Going to the gym means finding your balance, relieving built up stress, and opening up time for yourself to just be you.
FYI, you don't have to actually go to the gym. You could walk around your street, run, or buy a jump rope and a set of dumbbells and workout in your backyard. I also strongly encourage you to find a workout partner, whether it be a boyfriend, best friend, or club. I joined UGA CHAARG, a fitness group full of amazing girls, and it has changed my life. Having people that are all on the same journey to both physical and mental health has been an amazing experience.
Starting is not easy, but once the journey is started you won't want to go back. It's not always pretty, it's not always fun, and you don't always feel confident, but you'll feel better every single day. The sweat, the soreness, and the smell are all things that you'll come to love (mostly, maybe not the smell). Going to the gym, or working out in your home does not mean giving in to society's molds of what you should look like- it means finding the person inside you that was always there, and looking and feeling like that. It means finally feeling happy, and being strong enough to hold up the world and conquer it.
