Body Image

In seventh grade my mother told me you can have an Instagram account but you can’t have Snapchat. In seventh grade I signed up for Instagram. In eighth grade I started using Snapchat. These were a couple of the worst decisions I’ve made in my life. 

Some parents say, “sure you can have social media accounts” and others tell their kids, “you need to wait until you’re older or you may never get it.“

These past few years of being on social media has not really negatively affected me until this year. 

The one major thing that teenagers stress about is body image. Body image is one of the hardest topics for teenage girls. I think the subject of body image really hits girls when we are around 16 or 17. I am 16. One of the hardest things to look at on social media is looking at the pretty girls you go with to school with wearing bikinis. They look gorgeous, and you look at your photos or in the mirror and shame yourself for not looking as good as you think your friends do.

Every girl has these feelings at this age, I have and have these thoughts every day. It would be amazing to eat any type of food without gaining weight or having to work out. What I’ve learned recently is to be able to achieve the body you want you need to be able to work for it, and that means working out every single day and eating healthy foods. I don’t believe in a strict diet that beats you to your core because I just think it hurts you in the long run. My opinion is that you should eat whatever makes you happy. Eat healthy and make sure that whatever you put in your body is good for you. You can’t just eat healthy for the rest your life and think that your body will magically be perfect, you need to work out and be active. 

So far during this quarantine I have pushed off working out and I thought that if I just did not eat a lot I would lose weight. This has not worked. In the last week I’ve been going on runs, going on a stationary bicycle for 30 minutes, and doing ab and thigh workouts. 

I have a goal for myself. It isn’t to look a specific way or like a certain person. My goal is to feel confident in what I wear, how I wear it, and to feel healthy inside and out. My body won’t change from working out and eating healthy in just a week. I know it will take a couple of months, but I’m dedicated to doing it. 

Everybody is different in their own way and I believe that’s a good thing. Everyone should not have the same body. We should treat our bodies the way we want them to look as long as what we do is healthy and safe.

There are many quotes from famous people about body image and loving yourself. These are quotes i read to myself every single day and this is what gets me through being too self-conscious about the way I feel about how I look.

 “You have to just accept your body. You may not love it all the way, but you just have to be comfortable with it, comfortable with knowing that it is your own body.” Rihanna

“Dear Body,

No matter what strangers and loved ones say, no matter which step is in your journey, no matter what shape you are in..... I will always love you.”

This last poem is one I found a long time ago that has been in my photos of memories for a very long 

time.

“Love your body”

Look at your hands, they have pets so many cute animals and dried so many of your tears.
Look at your feet, they have walked you to some of your favorite places and walked you away from the bad ones.
Look at your belly, think of the days when it’s been full and warm with your favorite foods.
Look at your legs, they’ve held you up when you thought you weren’t strong enough to stand.
Look at your eyes, they have seen so many beautiful people.
Look at your mouth, it is told so many people that you love them.

Your body has been there for you since day one; love it because it loves you.