“I am too fat”
“I need to drop 10 pounds fast”
“I want to tone up”
“She is so skinny”
“Why can’t I look like her”
“She needs to eat something, I am not sure why she thinks being skinny is attractive”
“Wow, she looks like she has gained weight”
“Fit is the new skinny”
“I rather have big thighs that are toned then skinny fat legs”
“I like my body, I just want to be more healthy”
“I am watching my calories”
Have you ever heard these come out of your friends mouth or even yours? Have you ever thought about what you are saying to yourself as well?
We are all taught about self esteem, self image and being comfortable with who you are. We all have a goal we want to accomplish or maybe some of us are just happy maintaining the weight we are at.
I am going to be turning 25 soon and like some my quarter life crisis moment started sneaking in. Just like some girls, I wanted to use this turning point as motivation to get more toned and have a body I could love even more. As I was telling a friend that I was looking to do this, I heard the usual “Stop! You do not need to lose weight, you are going to become one of those girls.”
One of those girls? That is not even the thing though. What about being happy with my body? What’s so wrong with me maybe wanting to tone up to feel more comfortable in my own skin?
Just like the quotes above, we judge before we know the story behind why a girl looks the way she does. She might be skinny because she cannot gain weight, maybe she has an eating disorder she is fighting through or maybe something you do not even know about. Maybe the girl that seems ten pounds overweight to you but maybe she is really happy with the way she looks? What if she is comfortable with her body?
Or what about the girl that would rather be a little bigger to have more muscle then the girl that is good with her smaller legs? Or maybe the girl that is a little overweight has just started working out, and is making a little progress every day.
Nothing is wrong with any of those things. What matters is, are you happy with your body? Judging other people is not the answer. We each have a reason for the way we are. Some are happy, some are working toward being happy and some are trying to figure out how to be happy with their bodies.
So, what is wrong with your body? Nothing. Nothing is wrong with your body as long as you are happy with it.
Just remember before you judge another person by the way they look, remind yourself that you do not know the true story behind it. I think what is more important is how you treat others than the way you look.
