With Spring Break creeping quickly up behind us, suddenly our diets are in order or at least on our to-do lists of things we want to start. The so-called 5 apples a day, no sugar, no bread, but still alcohol kind of diet. I know this because I live with four women and we are all going to Mexico for spring break. And well, yeah, we are all trying to jump into shape with only two weeks left before flaunting our bikini bodies. And for the boys, I see the Snapchat stories filled with “gains” and the gym, the protein on top of protein meal shots. You too, are worrying about your body and how ripped it will be by the time your toes hit the sand. But enough worrying and just start accepting what you have.
I know we all hear about how we need to love your body and that we are all different. And I am not trying to re-hammer that back into your head and have it fall out the moment you move past this article. Instead, I want to give you another perspective on how to view yourself and those around you. I struggle with body image issues and I wish I didn’t, but I have had them for years now and it is not going to leave after one seminar.
To me, body insecurity should be classified as a disease. I think it could be an eating disorder in itself. I mean, we might not be starving ourselves or making ourselves sick, but we stare at the mirror multiple times a day,never looking at what we do have and only focusing on what we wish we could have. Grabbing on to the fat rolls, sucking down the thighs to see what’d they look like “skinny.” It’s an addiction and it is so hard to overcome. However, I have realized after months and months of suffering that I am, who I am and that my friend is perfect to me.
In the past 6 months I have lost 23 pounds. I went abroad, became a girth ball and now I am healthy again. Am I size 0? No. Do I have a flat stomach or skinny thighs? No. But do I look in the mirror and think back to what I used to look like and smile? Yes. So for people that see me for the first time in my bikini over spring break, they may say I am not skinny or look amazing. But for those that knew me in August and see me in Mexico in my bikini, well they will say I have never looked better.
So to those of you going to spring break with a piano over your head filled with the stress of the extra five pounds hanging on your belly or hips. It’s going to be okay, you will look beautiful to everyone if you smile, put your shoulders back and look confident. It is no ones business whether you ate powdered donuts this morning or starved with a fresh squeezed juice. The only thing that matters is if you feel beautiful or handsome. If you love yourself, people are obligated to love you back. They can’t pick on you if you don’t allow them to have something to pick apart. Be happy, it's vacation for a reason. No one is going to have a perfect body this break. There might be a girl with the most amazing abs and a flabby ass. And there may be a man with the most unbelievably built chest and biceps and as your eyes move down, you will find chicken legs.
There is no such thing as perfect, so just accept that you are as good as it gets. And it could be worse.
