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A negative body image is more a function of how you feel about yourself. That can certainly change with some effort, as this woman found out.
It goes back to my early adolescence when there was no guilt, no anxiety and no prerequisite for precision. I ate ice-creams, pastries, and slurped those fizzy, sparkling soft drinks without any thought of how many calories I was ingesting. I was a happy-go-lucky girl. I wish if I could just hold on to those moments of my life once again.
You have gained weight girl – That apparently guileless remark from my friend totally changed my opinion about myself. From that day, I was not a hale and hearty, fit individual anymore. Whenever I looked into the mirror, all I saw was a flawed body.
It is not unusual for overweight people to identify as ‘overweight’, till something happens, like in my case, any remark or comment that strikes them deeply.
I felt that losing weight would improve my appearance, and make me feel better about myself and my body. I was exercising at bizarre hours every day. Calculating calories, following a diet chart, and exercise sessions was the only routine. Somewhere in the process of calorie counting and diet restriction, I lost control, which resulted into patterns of messy eating and ultimately to a binge eating disorder.
Here are some of the things I learned on my way to salvage that situation.
Body image is an impracticable and naïve opinion of how someone perceives their body or physique. It is a very common phenomenon in women, but various men also suffer from this condition. You instigate and establish your own observations of your body’s shape, appropriateness, attraction, strength, vigor, and desirability. This perception about your own body remains with you as you grow old and accept comments or criticism from others, mainly from your friends and family.
So how to overcome this negative body image? Here are 4 things I depended on.
Negative thoughts about your body can become the reality of life. Instead of dwelling on your negative thoughts you should ask yourself do you really want this negative vicious cycle. Defy those negative thoughts and swap them with constructive ones.
Eating ailments are all about control. The more you exercise control over food intake, the lesser amount of control you have on your body. The main element is to let go of the urge of controlling your diet. All carbs and fats are not bad for your body.
Setting enormously impractical and high goals and standards in life won’t do you any good. Accept your genuine self. There will always be someone who will judge you for something in your life. How we nurture our bodies is a great deal about self-worth.
Start loving yourself for who you are. Change your focus away from the shape, contour, and size of your body. Focus on how you feel. You can try meditation, yoga, running, dancing. Just learn to feel healthier, better and happy in your skin.
Yes, my negative thoughts resurface at times but they do not control my life. I still put an emphasis on my looks and appearance, but I have realized that food is not an enemy. The timeworn eating disorder sneaks up sometimes, but I have learned to focus on my health now. It is more about nourishment now rather than calorie counting.
Image source: pixabay
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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