When I go on my Instagram and start looking through the pictures on the "explore" tab, almost all I see is posts related to fitness and body image. There are thousands upon thousands of before/after photos where people show how their body has changed due to diet and exercise over a period of time. It is axiomatic that this day and age fit is the new skinny and there has been a significant lifestyle change in the country over the past decade; the U.S. has always been known for having one of the highest obesity rates worldwide, but in recent years the rate has been decreasing and countries like Mexico have surpassed us.
Although it is great that the country is choosing a healthier lifestyle, I believe this new health trend has turned into a bit of a widespread craze that is merely focused on body image instead of the actual well-being of our bodies. Being thin is not sufficient anymore as now one has to also be tight, and muscular, and have a flat abdomen, but at the same time have curves, but not too much because then you are not fit enough... it's a downward spiral that imposes pressure on both men and women. Now is not only that fit is the new thin but bigorexia is the new anorexia.
It is irrelevant if we have the perfect body for the new fad or trend if we don't have a healthy image of ourselves. Back when I was 16, the trend among girls and women was being lean. I've never been overweight but my egotistic teenage self got me into a strict diet where I went from weighing 132 pounds to 100 pounds; I never starved myself but it was borderline anorexia. I wasn't worried about my health, I wanted to fit into society's mold. Looking now at the picture on the left, I see how slim I used to be and part of me almost wishes I could go back to being that way; however, the remembrance of how unsatisfied I was with my figure takes away any desire of losing weight for the sole purpose of satisfying a societal standard.
It was not only a negative self-image of myself, but also people's comments. It is mind blowing how certain people back then would scold me for gaining 5 or 10 pounds when I actually needed to gain weight to be healthier. The "being skinny" fad turned many into human scales and now the "being fit" fad is turning people into body building maniacs. I know the rationale is that being muscular and fit translates to being healthy but this not always holds true. Now at 23, I weight 134 pounds (none of it muscle, trust me) and when I recently got blood work done for my endocrinologist my cholesterol was high...the doctor explained, however, that it was high because my HDL or "good cholesterol" was great, which made the total number higher. Why should I put myself again in the position of wanting to fit in if the outcome is going to be constant pressure on myself with an insatiable wish of looking a certain way? I am confident that even if I looked like the fittest of body builders I wouldn't be satisfied because being healthy isn't the motivation - it's being perfect.
So here I am now, like the picture you see on the right. Have I looked better? that's relative, but let's say yes. Do I wish I looked like one of those Instagram models? maybe. Am I healthy? According to my blood work, YES. Am I going to go through rigorous dieting/exercise to please society? NO. The fitness trend is not one-size-fits-all and so long I am in good health and I continue working on a more positive self-image, I will do "fitness" my way.
