Body image & weight struggles

Everyone has struggled with body image, especially growing up. We all have an insecurity, a flaw that we try to conceal, no one is actually happy with the body that we’re blessed with. We may stare at celebrities and admire them, we admire how they look, talk and act, but deep down they’re humans too, they feel how we feel.

Disclaimer : I am in no means a doctor, a dietitian or a healthcare professional, this journal is based on personal experience.

Growing up, I’ve been big all my life, I’m the chubby girl, the fat girl, the overweight girl, whatever you could think of, I’ve been called, even at my lowest, when I was 50kg, bones were visible, I was still told that I could lose another 10kg because I look overweight. I’m the type of person that what people say doesn’t really get to me, so I never took offence with the name calling and body shaming. And honestly I thank God for that, if I were to let it affect me I would constantly be unhappy with life. I know that most of us were not blessed with the mindset I had, thus I’m writing this journal.

I know you’ve probably heard it hundreds of times online that weight and looks doesn’t matter, and some of you might be already into the Body Positivity movement. For those who have already accepted your body and are in love with it, I applaud you, and I encourage you :) For those who struggle with loving your body and accepting it, I understand, we all struggle, even for me, there are days that I struggle. There are days that we feel our best, and there are just some days we feel like our body is a complete blob. This goes for both genders, male and female, when talking about body positivity, a lot of people would just assume that only females feel this way, but male do too. They do feel like a blob on certain days, they don’t feel good about themselves, and I’m here to tell everyone, it’s okay to feel that way.

Body positivity is not about focusing on being obese, although a misconception among many, but it focuses on us loving and accepting ourselves any point of our lives. We may not feel the best everyday, but it is important to love the body we are in, instead of focusing on what we consider as negative and let it impact us mentally and emotionally. We need to be conscious and remind ourselves that our body has helped us in so many ways, from puberty to sustaining injuries, it is our shell that keeps us alive, and for women, we are able to birth babies in our bodies.

Many of us try to change how we look, but all of us at some point of our lives we’ve tried dieting or massively stuffing our face with food for weight gain. Most people talk about dieting, following different dieting schemes for weight loss, taking different pills to boost metabolism, block carbs or restricting carbs from our diet, and in all this, it just leads us back to a path which we were unhappy to begin with. Some people have been skinny all their lives, and would love to gain weight, they’re actually envious of those who look fuller in their clothes, so they result in stuffing their faces with sweets, carbs, soda’s and an unhealthy diet.

With that being said, scales don't matter, BMI doesn’t matter, but your health matters. For me personally, the important part of it all is that we try our best to ensure our health is the top priority. Exercising and eating well is the key to feeling better about ourselves.

When stepping on the weighing scale, we often get nervous, feeling dejected when we see our weight, that’s why most of people who are slightly heavier, obese or suffer from body dysmorphia tend to shy away from the weighing scale. Even for me, many years I refused to step on the scale, afraid to see how much I weigh. We all go through a period of time where we don’t feel our best, and I’m here to tell you that is okay. It is okay to feel like you’ve gained a few, it’s okay to feel lethargic, it’s okay to not be okay. Everyday we should take a conscious step towards feeling our best, with body image and weight struggles.

Taking the steps in ensuring we are healthy and happy for me personally would be exercising and eating well, I’ve learned from my time of dieting and taking pills, it greatly affects my mood and it affects my mental state. Honestly I’m not going to lie to you, everyday is not going to be easy, but I assure you it gets better, soon you will learn to love your body and all that it has to offer, your weight does not define you, it should not stop you from achieving your dreams or reaching your goals.

There are plenty of videos and pictures online that you can search, many men and women of the same weight, but they all look extremely different. As you know fats and muscle weigh differently, bones, water, there are a lot of factors why our weight on the weighing scale is as such. All these factors contribute to our weight, and it is also the reason why we might weigh the same but look extremely different. So do yourself a favor, don’t pay attention to your ‘targeted’ weight, focus on feeling better, being comfortable in your own skin and being healthy.

God loved us for who we are, why can’t we learn to love ourselves for who we are?

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; make and female He created them. Genesis 1:27 NKJV

God has created us in his image, there are parts of us that bear some resemblances to God Himself; who are we to be so negative; who are we to judge ourselves when our God puts so much thought into how we look. We need to cut ourselves some slack, stop judging ourselves and each other, instead focus our energy on God and the blessings that He has bestowed upon our lives.

If you struggle from body image issues, or when you’re feeling down and need someone to talk to, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will get to you as soon as we can :)

written by;

Sarah Fern