Self Love And Body Positivity

Ever since a young boy, I was known for my crazy eating habits. I had an abnormally large sweet tooth and stomach. There would be days I would eat a whole bag of candy and still have a taste for more sweets. I had a fairly thin physique with some muscle tone. Everybody told me that one day, I’ll become obese and regret all these “bad” decisions; I disregarded every comment and lived by the motto, “ As long as I don’t get fat, I’m fine.”

     Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.

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

Having dark skin, full lips and long thick hair has always been things that I was proud of, because this was the way that all the women in my family looked. My mother and grandmother always made me feel like being me or looking like me was the greatest gift in the world. However, I learned from the constant teasing and hair pulling from individuals in my 5th grade class, that looking like the rest of my family was not seen as a good thing to others outside of my home. That is when I became truly aware of my differences and I believe those negative experiences changed the way I viewed my own

Recently I have been motivated by my friend Adrian’s life changing decision of putting behind his desire of just letting go and being determined to live a healthy life. I have always had an active life and enjoy playing sports but figured that it wouldn’t be enough and I am currently on a diet which has cut down on my calorie and sugar level intake. Nowadays I take the time to read nutrition labels and measure portion sizes which make a great difference. Every now and then I have a break and consume foods that are not healthy but I now I am doing better now. It is a constant struggle to not get tempted into a delicious looking pizza or some perfectly rounded donuts but I stay motivated to achieve my

Having dark skin and long thick hair has always been things that I was proud of, because this was the way that all the women in my family looked. My mother and grandmother always made me feel like being me or looking like me was the greatest gift in the world, however, I learned from the constant teasing and hair pulling from individuals in my 5th grade class that looking like the rest of my family was not seen as a good thing to others outside of my home. That is when I became truly aware of my differences and I believe those negative experiences changed the way I viewed my own self-worth and beauty. I am no long that confident

I would began to mask my insecurities as best as I could and forced myself to understand that I couldn’t change myself no matter what I did. “You’re pretty for a dark-skinned girl.” was a phrase I heard often growing up,but do to my low self-esteem and the eagerness for acceptance I took this offensive statement as a compliment.Recently I started to learn more and accept my African Heritage,traditions and ancestry which empowered me to take pride in my African and Caribbean Culture.I realized I shouldn’t abide by western ideologies of beauty and just love the richness of my melanated complexion and

I am a teenager girl and I deal with the pressure of trying to have the perfect figure, clothes, and makeup. I look at magazine covers, I watch tv shows, I see models and I desire to look just like them. I understand that the pictures are photoshopped and that no one really looks like society displays them, but I still wish I could look like that. A couple of years ago, I modeled for Carolina Talent in Charlotte. The girls surrounding me were skin and bones. They had physical health problems due to their eating disorders. I never once considered not eating or dieting to lose weight. I have always been a fairly skinny person, I was even made fun of in middle school for being “anorexic”. When I told the kids at school that I was modeling a kid came up to me and asked me if I threw up after I ate. The atmosphere of modeling was not for me. I no longer cared about it, because I hated the image it was giving me. Women underestimate their own beauty. I think that society would be a much better place if everyone understood that someone else's beauty is not the absence of their

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

This practice of allowing myself to eat what I restricted is a huge part of the foundation I now have to trust and respect my body. At first it can feel a little scary and out of control but when you get out of your own way and follow the feeling you let go of the desire. And once again you will see all foods as equal. Food is energy to sustain and nourish us. As my relationship to food started to heal and the initial novelty of eating cookies for breakfast wore off I began eating more nutrient dense foods because that is what my body was

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.

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

In this day and age, the epidemic of these so called ‘beauty’ standards is only getting worse and worse. Because of photo modification, low self esteem in regular everyday people is starting to become something that is nearly considered normal. Today, 42% of girls from age 5-8 want to be skinnier, 52% of girls aged 9 to 13 feel better when they are dieting and by the age of 17, 78% of girls are unhappy with their own bodies. Think about

Some individuals have “delusions of ugliness or misshapenness” (Bradbury, 301). This is called body dysmorphic disorder. They hold the belief that something is wrong with them despite them not being ugly at all. The patients` lives gets taken over by the need to find the “cure,” to rid them of their self-thought strange looks. Most patients with this disorder find themselves dejected and felt great shame in how they looked. Patients saw how they looked to be “socially unacceptable and as arousing strong adverse reactions in others, which led to social avoidance.” (Bradbury,