Trends come and go. And as we've seen over the last few decades, trends have a way of repeating themselves but in a more, revamped way. Let's take high waisted jeans for instance. A long time ago, only moms would be the ones caught wearing these. But today, they are a HUGE hit among teens and young adults. One thing that doesn't work as much on a revolving door is the expectation of body size.
Feeling the need to conform to one "ideal" size, is something that a lot of girls struggle with. Living in a world run by social media and images that showcase only the primped, primed and most perfect photos, it's hard not to fall victim to the battle of comparing. Now, this is not an unfamiliar topic. Body dysmorphia and eating disorders have played a large part in the female mental game that it only seems more relevant now considering we are just starting to come out of an eight month quarantine.
As a long-time athlete, I have always have the ability to stay in good shape. Playing volleyball in college certainly contributed a lot to that. Post-college, I took up body building and competed in Bikini competitions for a few years. I learned a lot about my body and how to work out the way necessary to look the way I wanted or needed to. Over the years, I developed a bad relationship with food. Going so long on a restricted meal plan to then have the freedom to eat what I wanted, it became a battle for me. I never had issues with my body ever in the past so I was fortunate to be able to essentially "reset" my relationship with the fitness world.
Maintaining a specific figure for the sake of an industries standards can be tiring in more than one way. Once you reach a certain body size and are that way for some time, it can be a hard adjustment to accept changes. I've seen many girls disappear from the social media world as they fought to accept their current size. How unfortunate it is that we feel so pressured to look a certain way that we will hide from social media completely. Just as people struggle with drug or alcohol abuse, toxic food patterns is not something to be ignored.
Going back to earlier in this post where I mentioned quarantine. Going through months of being confined to one place has affected people in different ways. A lot of people developed a new skill, completely cleaned and redid their house, worked on relationships with others or simply enjoyed time to really hone into something. Others struggled with the fact that they are stuck inside and feel to the comfort of different things like binge watching shows, drinking more or over indulging in food with lack of physical activity to compensate for this. It can be difficult to get back on track once you've reached a certain point with this.
As we each struggle with our own personal issues, it is one thing to have others point them out to us. It seems that society has no problem pointing out flaws of those who they don't know the full story of. If you have ever experienced this humiliation, it can be painful and tough to go through. As someone who has been through some drastic body changes and has received comments every step of the way, it is a tough battle to face. But each stage of my body was one that only I endured. This gives no right to anyone else to make comments. As I leave things at that, let me leave you with one last piece of advice:
YOUR body is yours and only yours. YOU live in it, no one else does. YOU have control over what YOU look like. You can't please everyone but you should always please YOU. Never let society decide anything for your life! Live your life to the fullest and never stop reaching for the stars!
