Importance Of Self Love And Body Positivity

I still remember my young mind being undoubtedly misled by narcissistic societal standards that left me feeling hatred for my physical appearance. It was not until my second year of high school when I realized that self-love should not be shallow, but rather focused on one’s own well-being and happiness. It was through this discovery which I felt a passionate urge to aid others who have, like me, combated years of insecurities conceived by offering

In school I felt like everyone knew I was fat. There was no doubt in my mind they watched me with the same disgust I found I had for myself. I couldn’t tell anyone my concerns about my health. Of course these were not the same concerns one with crippling insecurity about weight and appearance but more of how could I last the day without getting too dizzy. How could I stop from falling asleep in class or sleeping as soon as I got home. Hiding became a way of life. The distorted view of myself was due to what would later be diagnosed as anorexia nervosa.

I have been worried about my looks my whole life. It was most evident when I began junior high and things were changing. Girls started getting curvier, wearing makeup and getting prettier. We were compared to the models that we would see in our Cosmo magazines. In Junior High, my parents bought me a phone, therefore, I downloaded every social media that ever existed. I would post the pictures that I looked best in because appearances were everything. A girl at any age is afraid of being judged and it seems that for me, as a

This article was written by Sunny Sea Gold on a popular wellness website named Greatist. The beginning of the piece addresses the question , what does someone gain from just being ok with their body? The author states that she intentionally avoids saying “loving” your body because she feels that loving ever aspect of your body all the time is an unrealistic goal. She also points out that research has linked positive mental and physical states are linked with being satisfied with ones body. The issue of weight and its relationship to body acceptance is the main theme of the article, and the author presents arguments such as, disliking your body may increase your risk of obesity, and women of any weight who accept their flaws are able to handle

“Body image begins to form in grade school because that’s when children/people start comparing themselves to others,” said Dr. Gene Beresin, a child and adult psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical. Body image is how a person perceives themselves, including their imagination, emotional, and physical sensations (The Media and Body Image, 1). Teens that suffer from negative body image let the bad thoughts shatter their self-esteem, the sense of how valuable they are as people (Maynard, 1). The lowered self-esteem may lead to depression, eating disorders, or mental disorders. Bryan Karazsia, the associate professor of psychology at the College of Wooster, said, “Body dissatisfaction is not linked with health. It’s linked with a lot of negative things like eating disorders, unhealthy exercise habits, low self-esteem, and depression.”

I saw many others of my peers who did not fit into what society viewed as being beautiful. Many of them were doing the same things I did to get noticed. They would change their outward appearance in hopes of attracting romantic male attention. Some got the attention and other didn’t get the type of attention they wanted. I came to a point only recently in my life. where I didn’t care what people thought about how I looked and decided to live the life I wanted and needed to be a better women and care for my two

For many years, I felt inferior of my appearance. In my childhood, I used to be a lovely girl, and everyone who saw me would say that I will grow up into a gorgeous girl, as well as I thought. But, as we know, life is so cruel that it always doesn’t follow what we expect. When I was 10, I started to get pimples on my face. At first, I didn’t worry about that so much, because my parents told me it is a normal phenomenon when children grow up.

Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychological disorder in which a person thinks about their flaws and imperfections for hours a day and take extreme measures in order to “perfect their body” so it can finally appeal to them and be the way it is “suppose to be.” Those who suffer from this disorder cannot control there negative thoughts and it can prevent them from doing everyday activities such as attend school and attend work. They are more prone to miss social events than go out to show off their results and are insecure about how they tried to fix there “imperfections.” And are never satisfied with their results as they undergo more drastic measures to reach their end goal such as plastic surgery, continuous self-tanning, hours of laser surgeries

Rae Smith with the Love Yourself Challenge on tumbler.com relays a strong message when she says, “There is nothing wrong with your body, but there is a lot wrong with the messages which try to convince you otherwise.” When it comes to having a positive body image in today’s society it can often be a struggle for anyone. 89% of American women are unhappy with their current weight and body, 84% would like to lose weight. (Schultz, 2015) Speaking for myself, I have struggled with weight and body image since I was about 11. I have done so many harmful things to myself as a teen and into my adulthood trying to achieve the body I thought I could be happy with but it never really occurred to me the damage I was doing until I had a daughter. My

Instead, I worried about what people thought of me. I developed a strange habit; I started pulling out my hair. I told my therapist about this, and she told me that I have trichotillomania. Trichotillomania is a disorder where someone pulls out their hair when they get anxious. I pulled when I was stressed, anxious, sad, and I used it to cope. Bald spots formed quickly, and I tried as hard as I could to stop. I just could not. I always had something to worry about, whether it be a test, or if a guy liked me or not. I was so focused on how I appeared to others, and if I was beautiful or not. One day in high school while I was in the school bathroom I noticed something; every girl was looking in the mirror and complaining about what they saw .Although nothing was wrong in the first place. We were all so focused on what we looked like instead of caring about our minds. We did not care how we treated one another, but how we appeared. I realized that is not what matters. Ever since we were two years old we were taught to be beautiful, and to be princesses, but not much else. Many of my mental disorders stemmed from trying to be what society wanted me to be, and I realized I was not alone. All the girls in this bathroom looking into dirty bathroom mirrors had experienced the same things I had. They had been hurt by boys, and they had all felt ugly before. We were all girls; who had all been told the same things. That we were not beautiful. That we should just be quiet. Every one of us were unhappy in some way; every one of us thought we weren’t good enough. After looking at our flaws for a few seconds, we all go back to the halls that convinced us we had flaws in the first

Perhaps you’re just like Tamara, a 21 year old who’s struggled with body image from a young are. Growing up, she would ask her parents “How come my brothers can have ice cream, but I can’t?” “Because they don’t have a weight problem.” She considered herself “fat”. Have you ever dealt with a body image issue?

Mirrors used to be my worst enemy as a young teenage girl; every time I glanced into one, I would see an image of a girl full of flaws and imperfections. I was in a constant battle with myself, fighting with the person I was and the kind of person I wanted to be. My perception of perfection was equivalent to the glamorous images I saw of movie stars in magazines and on the television; tall, well-toned, incredibly thin, beautiful women, and I dreamed of nothing more than reaching a status of similar proportions. After a time, I concluded that I was fed up with my body image, and I made the decision to completely alter my past habits by restricting my diet to a minimum of 700 calories a day and choosing to exercise more than was necessary. During

I’ve been wanting to change the way I feel about myself or mainly how I judge myself about my appearance. I don’t care about what people tell me about my own appearance just what I like about it. I judge myself on how I look today. Sometimes I decide I don’t want to socialize thought I didn’t come to school dressed properly In a way that I enjoy how I look. I want to be able to convince myself I shouldn’t care about what I’m wearing just as long as I’m happy I’ll be fine. I also want to lose weight not because of what people make fun of it or I’m insecure about it, but I just want to stop the problem before it starts. I’m generally happy being the way I am even though lots of my family members want me to participate in sports or do something

In my early teenage years, I was always striving to look like the women in my mother’s magazines. They were always so thin, beautiful, but more importantly, desirable. I would look at them, then look in the mirror and feel ashamed of myself. I felt fat and ugly all the time. Soon after those repetitive moments, I was flipping through the TV channels when I saw a clip of an anorexic women. I was in complete and utter disbelief. She looked so beautiful in my eyes. So thin and desirable. That’s when it started.

When my family moved away from the place I grew up I began to have a major problem with my weight; I turned to food to comfort me. I somehow felt secure while eating and because of that psychological reassurance I got from the food, I was soon over weight. I knew I had to do something but that urgency would die when I would be introduced to a new flavor of Brewster’s ice cream or a limited time only supreme large fries that I saw advertised on the television or in a magazine. My self esteem and body-image suffered a great amount during those years of constant struggle. As I looked at pictures of celebrities, athletes, average people, friends, my sister and then myself, I noticed something, all of them were thin except me. After this and