As a woman, I have been surrounded by the stigma of body image my whole life. It’s been something I have seen in magazines, television — even my own family. Covers of magazines are filled with captions like, “How to get rid of those five pesky pounds” or “How to lose those five unwanted pounds,” but what if I wanted those?
During my 21 years on this planet, the amount of times I have heard, “I wish I could just lose five more pounds,” is countless.
Why is this? Of course the media has bombarded young women with thinking they need to look a certain way, never too fat or too skinny. But in reality every woman — every person for that matter — has a different unique body and is beautiful.
I am here to argue, that those five extra pounds you have on you are the pounds that you have from living and loving life. Those pounds represent the time you went to taco bell at 3 A.M. with your friends on a Thursday night. Those five pounds represent the time you had the best waffles you had ever tasted at the local brunch place near your university. Those five pounds could be the vacation you just took with your family, where you bonded with your siblings you hadn’t seen in months. They represent the moments you ate holiday cookies and drank eggnog with your family. And for some, those five pounds could be the baby weight you can’t lose from bringing a child into this world.
Those five pounds are beautiful, because they are experiences. They are you living and loving and not focusing on the way you look, but focusing on how amazing this world is around us.
I am by no means saying gluttony is good, I think being healthy is the most important thing. But it should be part of your lifestyle, not your life.
If you work out regularly, it is OK to skip the gym every once in a while if it means you are going on an adventure with your friends.
If you are at a restaurant that is known for the best burger in town, why go for a salad if you really want to try the burger?
There should be no shame in being happy, if you are still being healthy.
I think with age and learning, comes confidence. You should all have the confidence to not be shamed for how you look.
When I was younger, I used to envy my friends who were rail thin and ordered a cheeseburger, when I would be too ashamed and just stick with a salad (not that salad isn’t amazing sometimes). But only as I got older did I realize how wrong I had everything. I am sure my friend did not think her body was perfect either, but the fact was she didn’t care -- why should I have?
I was too worried everyone would judge me for being heavier and ordering something delicious, that I let it take away from my happiness. If anything people should see someone enjoying life and content with the way she is.
I have seen this in others as well, who shy away from ordering what they actually want, or struggle with thinking they should be at the gym instead of out with all of us. But when I look at those women, all I see is a beautiful woman whom I love. I see my sister, my cousin, my best friend, my mother. I see these women who are by no means fat, but they keep wishing they could lose five extra pounds, instead of embracing the fact that they are perfect just the way they are.
They are kind, funny, wise, and happy people who should not let the fact that they may have a different body type than some other women they know, they are still beautiful and amazing women.
None of us may ever get to the exact weight we want, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t beautiful. We should not let our self consciousness get in the way of living and loving life, because we only get to do this once, so why not be happy with the absolutely wonderful, unique you?
