Final part of my summer series (under the umbrella of fitness): a message to my readers who have followed my summer series, are trying to transform into a healthier lifestyle, or are struggling with body image; this is for you.

Growing up, and even still until now (the meager age of 19), I never had body image issues, concerns, or degrading personal thoughts. I was an active kid, so that probably helped, but I was also extremely confident and fully involved in who I was, without caring about what others thought. Being the innocent and old soul that I am, I never even realized girls, and even boys, had body image concerns. To me, I had no idea self-shame was even a thing that existed in a world I viewed to be so supportive, uplifting, and positive. It wasn’t until little miss happy go lucky jumped into high school and created a few social media profiles that I began to be cognitively trained, without my full awareness, of the stress and pressure society places on individuals, especially young girls, to look and be a certain way.

Throughout my four years of high school and into my first year of college, I watched as girls would invest their self-worth in something so minute as body image, looks, and appearances on a one dimensional screen. Nine times out of 10, I would witness young females view themselves in pictures, compare their social media ratio and “likes” to others, and weave their confidence into a simple image that was captured in an instant of time. As I matured, I noticed girls talk about needing to eat less or go to the gym more just to attain an unrealistic human shell that society constantly pressured them to want. I’m not going to lie to you, I have fallen in society’s trap a time or two, but how could I not when unrealistic and completely unattainable expectations are continuously being pushed and published in my face? (“EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT! All girls must look like Kim Kardashian, J Lo, Victoria’s Secret Angels, and Beyoncé and if not…then they cannot be considered as beautiful.”) Since when did this routine of insanity, pressure, and body-shaming become an aspect so frequently practiced in our everyday lives that we don’t even notice its presence and impact on the youth of our nation anymore? Since when did receiving a certain amount of “likes” or “favorites” on social media automatically lead to the title of popular, better looking, or overall, more well-liked? Since when did we, powerful, passionate, and success-driven young women place our well-being, sanity, view of ourselves, and confidence into the hands of a beast that only views multi-dimensional beings as a single layer? And since when did we, the females of this nation, decide to give in and be content with the heavy pressure and comparing society has forced us to feel?

Personally, I love America because of the wide amount of variety this country has to offer. Each and every individual was born unique, custom-made, and different. Isn’t that what makes living in this great nation such an exciting and adventurous thing? If all people looked and acted identical, then how would we ever learn something new, gain new insight, appreciate what we personally have, or escape the boredom that comes with living in a society full of replicas?

Yes, transforming your life into a healthier one is great for the longevity of your existence, but the reason I wrote a summer series about health and fitness is because I want to make sure individuals are attaining their health goals for the right reasons. Not to gain more “likes” on social media, or take hundreds of bikini bod pictures you know will be well-received, or be able to finally “fit in” with society’s painting and photo shopped image of young women, but simply for your well-being, your confidence, and your ability to be self-empowered. That’s it.

Being “healthy” is a personal, completely individual, and specifically designed word, view, and definition for each and every person who takes on a fitness journey. Your health progression is sure as heck going to be a different health progression than your neighbor, but you are both completely and 100 percent moving towards a longer-lasting and happier life in your very own way. That’s what makes being “healthy” so hot. It’s not about size, a number on a scale, or body image, but simply progress, day-by-day goals being attained, and lifelong milestones being reached. “Healthy” is a mindset, not a shape or look. “Healthy” is an attitude, not a pant size or amount of social media response. “Healthy” is a way of life, not a temporary or short-term way of looking.

I want women, and men, everywhere to understand that fitness and exercise should not be completed for the sole purpose of conforming to society’s expectations of how people should look. Health should not be driven, directed, or motivated by society’s unrealistic standards of what being “in shape” is. A healthy lifestyle should not be one infatuated with thoughts, judgments, and comparisons to one another based on a simple skin deep view. Health based on society’s expectations should not be the source we gain our confidence and self-empowerment from. Health is something that should be desired and attained from within, for the sake of our own well-being, state of life, and length of our existence. And at the end of the day, being active to please yourself, instead of pleasing your peers around you, is way more fun and less dread-filled.

We simply cannot meet the demands society has pressured and tricked us into thinking we want, so why do we continue to give in and try? Eat healthy because you want to. Go for a run because you want to. Attain fitness goals because you want to. Transform your life because you want to.

Society has underhandedly trained people into thinking you have to be a certain shape or size, receive a large amount of positive reaction on social media, and wear that size -1 dress perfectly in order to be beautiful, but I think society took the word “beautiful” and read it one dimensionally. When you dive deeper into this powerful word’s roots and dissect it for the multi-dimensional word that it is, you’ll discover that truly being be(you)tiful cannot be done without being you.

Thank you to any, and all, of you who have read, shared, liked, tried out, or followed my summer series these past eight weeks. Summer of 2016 has been one for the books, and I hope it has treated you just as great. Always remember, healthy is the new skinny and it is so vital to be comfortable with the skin you are in. I'm so humbled if I have been able to help you achieve any motivation, inspiration, or fitness success this summer. Keep doing you and working hard! I promise it will pay off.

Happy back to school and thank you again.

Best Wishes,

Jessy Holen