Every day when I am scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, I see articles and posts about how women need to stop worrying about the negatives of their body and learn to embrace their flaws and love themselves. Creating a positive body image for women and girls has been a big issue in the last couple of years. Magazines and mainstream media continually promote the unhealthy and unattainable standard for the way a woman's body should look.
More recently, there have been campaigns around loving your body and accepting your body no matter its size and flaws. I am all for accepting your body the way it is and loving yourself and I am so over seeing these photoshopped bodies online and in magazines. I know I don't have that perfect body, but I do love it and I don't mind having "a little extra" here and there.
But with that being said, I still have this desire to change my body. It's not because I want to be a size 2, have that perfect beach body or look like those Victoria's Secret models. It's because I feel good when I workout and I feel good when I sweat. And I feel good when I look good. I like to push myself to be healthier and active. Working out and staying active doesn't just benefit the appearance of your body, it benefits the inner workings of your body.
The more time you spend sitting on the couch and watching TV, the more likely you are to injure yourself when you do try something active, or even worse, when you just move your body in a way it's not used to.
I don't care about the number on the scale or the size of the clothing I have to buy. I know that my legs will never slim down because I played soccer my whole life and I'm ok with that, but that doesn't mean I don't want them to be toned. I know I'll never have what is called a "perfect beach body," but I still want to feel comfortable in a bathing suit or whatever I wear. Gaining weight as you get older is natural and it is rare you're going to look the same as you did when you were 17.
We need to make a differentiation between people that are trying to lose weight for the wrong reasons and people that are just trying to stay active and if they lose weight in the process then so be it. Over counting calories, working your body until you literally can't feel a single muscle, and partaking in unhealthy diets that are actually detrimental to your overall health are not the right reasons. Working out because you feel good when you do it, eating healthier because you know it's best for your body but treating yourself every once in awhile is ok.
Instead of promoting women to just love their bodies the way they are I think we need to be promoting them to yes, love their bodies the way they are, but all while staying active, eating healthier, and living an overall healthy lifestyle.
Learn to love your body while still treating it the right way. Push yourself in the gym, not for the people around you but for yourself. Look good and feel good about your body. Looking good is not about what other people say looking good is, it's about feeling good and comfortable in the skin that you live in.
