Body image is a complicated subject, especially for girls. According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), 91% of college women have dieted before and 22% of college women are "always" on a diet. It's not just college students though. 50% of the girls surveyed between first and third grade want to be thinner as well. Frankly, that's terrifying because, at seven-years-old, the last thing little girls should be thinking about is weight loss.
However, as frightening as that may seem, we need to face the facts and realize that despite all of this "body positivity" hype, we're still failing. It's not just girls that are overweight that want to lose weight. Girls that are already "perfect" struggle too.
Scrolling through the trending Instagram pics on the discover page, I see image after image of "perfect" girls with "perfect" bodies. But how many of those girls actually think that their bodies are perfect? My guess is that a lot of them don't. I bet most of those seemingly flawless Instagram models are also staring at their bodies in the mirror and wishing they could change something.
Tonight I found myself staring at my reflection in the mirror and agonizing over why my hips can't be an inch or two smaller.
Then I thought back to a year or two ago when I stood in the same mirror stressing out over the same thing. This then prompted me to go back and look at photos of myself back then and I quickly realized that there wasn't a single part of me that needed to be any smaller. Even in size 0 jeans, I still felt "too big."I still found problem areas. Now, I wish more than anything I could go back and tell my old self that there is more to life than the size of my thighs.
Unfortunately, sometimes we get so wrapped up in our insignificant "flaws" that we fail to see the positive aspects of our appearance.
We're constantly searching for the next thing to change or improve and that's not always a bad thing— but when it comes to your body, it can be. It's so easy to get caught in a wave of negative thoughts when we compare ourselves to others— and it doesn't necessarily have to be Instagram models we compare ourselves to. Perhaps comparing yourself to your best friend takes your self-esteem down a notch, so stop it. I know that it's easier said than done, but tearing yourself down is never a good use of your time.
If we're constantly searching for our flaws, we'll never be happy with what we have.
