Let’s talk about body positivity

In a day and age where diet culture and super models are thrown in our face, it is basically a universal experience to experience insecurities surrounding how we look. Virtually everyone I have ever talked to has made a negative comment about their own appearance. Growing up, I never was worried about how my body looked, I was just an average kid who ate whatever they wanted and didn’t think twice. But times have changed now that social media is being introduced to kids at younger and younger ages. The biggest problem I have seen in social media in regards to body positivity is TikTok. 

I’m sure that many people can relate to the anger and frustration I feel when I see “what I eat in a day” videos. I believe these videos are incredibly toxic, no matter how much/what food these strangers eat. I have seen videos of people basically starving themselves, videos of people eating only fast food, and everything in between. The bottom line is, no one should be posting a “what I eat in a day”. The only people you should listen to in regards to what you should be eating is a nutritionist. A lot of the videos don’t mean any harm, but to an impressionable young audience, they can seriously harm someone’s relationship with food. 

I know people who have recovered from eating disorders, and people who still struggle with them, and there is one thing that I have learned from listening to their stories that really resonates with me. If you are trying to look good for anyone other than yourself, you will never be happy. This goes hand in hand with trying to lose weight in an unhealthy way. If your mindset towards losing weight is, “If I lose 10 pounds, I will be happy,” then you will never be happy. No matter how low the number on the scale is, it will never be enough if you associate a low weight with happiness. A friend once said to me that she was happier when she weighed more, because once you develop a toxic relationship with food and exercise, your entire life is centered around it. 

I believe that being fully confident in the way you look is a lifelong journey. You can’t just wake up one day and decide that you’re never going to feel insecure again, because that isn’t realistic. The truth about body positivity is that you are going to feel insecure from time to time, but the difference is that you don’t let the insecurities rule over you. So next time your friends want to get ice cream, don’t miss out because you’re worried about the number on the scale. You only live once, and you don’t want to look back on your life, wishing that you would’ve just let yourself enjoy dessert.