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Struggling with body image is a part of a lot of young people’s lives especially at the minute with being stuck inside. The temptation of food surrounds us 24/7 and with little to no exercise most young people are finding it hard to find the body confidence they once had. I would also like to state that all body figures are beautiful, and you should deserve all the love in the world! Be confident, be you!
Here are a few tips to help you be confident in your own skin!
1.Do not get caught up in other people’s views of social media.
This one is something I do regularly, and I am not ashamed to say it because once I knew I was doing it I knew I had to change something. A lot of young people are too focused on what other people’s views are because of social media. It is a huge part of our lives and it is difficult to avoid negativity I know it is but believe me what you need to do is to delete apps that have negative comments/views or just unfollow people that make you feel insecure. Without them, you will start to feel better about yourself.
2.Show your body some gratitude!
This is another way that can increase your body confidence. I know we all hate looking at our naked self in the mirror but do it. Stand there and figure out which parts of your body you dislike. Then say, “I dislike my hips BUT I’m a woman and they are there to help me birth children” or “I dislike my thighs BUT they help me walk everywhere!” Show your body some love and allow yourself to become familiar with every part of your body! Each body is different but beautiful in so many ways. You need to be grateful for what you have.
3.Change what you are focusing on.
Do you exercise to lose weight? The answer most likely is yes. Many people exercise mainly on the basis that they want to lose weight but exercising alone does not always do the trick. You must exercise and maintain a healthy diet which many fail to include both in their lifestyle. What I have learnt is that by just exercising and listing to my body when I am hungry has allowed me to feel better about myself. I used to focus on having to exercise every day limiting myself to food even though I knew my body was hungry. Try to find a balance where you are loving your life and eating what you want to. Do not limit yourself and listen to what your body is telling you!
Lastly! I would like to mention that you are who you are for a reason. All bodies are different shapes and sizes. No one should ever tell you something different to make you feel insecure about yourself. If they do this, they are self-conscious about themselves and are just jealous of your gorgeous body!
Is social media taking over body image perspectives?
This article has been edited following a message from the author: “I recently had a look over the comments and one particularly struck me about my article not going into enough depth about the damage social media is taking on people’s body confidence.” The following is some additional information!
Social media is used by 3.78 billion people worldwide in 2021 according to Statista.
That means that 3.78 billion people use some type of social media whether that be Instagram, Facebook or snapchat. How many of those feel negative about their own body image because of social media? 61% of adults and 66% of children feel negative about their body image because of social media.
I feel disgusted that these percentages are so high including adults because how can the future generation grown up feeling body confident when the previous generation feel negative about it too? I believe that the social media platform Instagram provides a huge part in this. My own personal perspective is that every time I scroll on Instagram there are “perfect, tall, slim and tanned” bodies plastered on nearly every post. I can see why the percentages are so high because most teens sit scrolling through posts like these every day. After scrolling on these posts, you can understand the severity that social media can play on young people’s mental health.
My own experience of social media playing a part on my mental health…
I have over-exercised and cut out all junk foods just to try and see myself as one of these “slim” models. Looking back now, its devastating that I thought that this was completely normal, and I can see how it could affect others in the exact same way. What I have done since is that I have stopped following people that made me feel ashamed about the way that I looked. I have pushed out any negativity that comes from social media and followed people who empowers the body.
Whatever size you are, it should not determine who you are as a person.
Body image is a very private matter where no one else’s opinion matters. Each individual is a unique piece of work that has been created with all the greatness in them that they need for people to love them. Social media plays a heavy role in faulting people by just the way they look and not what they are good at. Judging someone just on the way they look is a very shallow view on life because you are going to be comparing yourselves to each person you see or meet.
What I would like to see change is that all social media platforms start to provide the base that all bodies are beautiful. To monitor posts that are being posted by users to enable our generation to be able to see types of bodies. It should be the norm to just look at a person and to not think straight away about how their body looks.
Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below!
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I honestly think that its completely down to the person. Why should they listen to others and feel so insecure about themselves, with todays society, they can get bullied if they’re the slightest bit of overweight, which is wrong in numerous ways. It should matter how you look on the outside. This needs to be addressed to victims of being bullied or body shamed. Social media involves too much people discussing about bodies and can make others feel jealous of their body. If the victim works out by being pressured into it, it could risk their own mental health. Being forced into something that you don’t want to do, can cause a tremendous amount of stress, though, it should be THEIR choice, no one else. It’s not your body that builds your personality, it’s the person themselves! Being stuck in due to COVID-19, doesn’t help with peoples bodies nor mental health, they could begin getting anxiety from people judging or staring, which will lead them to not going out and causing the issue to be worse. It needs to stop!
I think that this is an issue that shold be addressed in this society and I applaud you for realizing that. A lot of people struggle with inadequacy and the feeling that they just don’t quite measure up. With the unrealistic expectations of beauty presented in the media, other people and often our own self-imposed ideologies of perfection and beauty, it is very difficult for people to accept the God-given beauty and inherent worth that every human being possesses.
I think this article outlines the issues surrounding body image quite clearly. The initial focus on loving your body and that every body is beautiful is lovely and is extremely important for young people to know, especially nowadays. Moreover, the notion that we should all also become more familiar with each and every individual part of our bodies, even the aspects that we least like is also a particularly striking. We should be more focused on how our bodies provide for us and keep us healthy, rather than shaming ourselves for the parts we dislike.
However, in my opinion, this article is guilty of brushing over the major impact social media has had on teenagers today.
Although briefly mentioned, the influence apps like Instagram have had on young people is huge. This needs to be more directly addressed as it has completely taken over young peoples’ perceptions of beauty and changed how they view their bodies. This leads them to constantly compare themselves to edited pictures posted on such platforms and make them believe this is they should look.
I think…this was a very useful article in understanding different people’s interpretations regarding body image and confidence and will easily help a young person to feel more proud of their body and to be able to do what they love without having to worry about their body image and how it is seen by others.
I think in order to have a more positive body image you first need to have a better relationship with food. Intuitive eating and eating what you want when you are hungry, then stopping when you are full is is a difficult skill but will help in establishing a good body image. You will know that you are eating when you’re body needs food so are not over eating or under eating therefore, you know that how your body looks is how it’s meant to be and that you are maintains this firm in a healthy way.
I think that this is a great article! Really focused on allowing everyone’s bodies to be counted for however they look.
I think..this artical was very good. The truth about how most girls feel. Abigail also enjoy well done Tamzin xx
I think in order to have a more positive body image you first need to have a better relationship with food. Intuitive eating and eating what you want when you are hungry, then stopping when you are full is is a difficult skill but will help in establishing a good body image. You will know that you are eating when you’re body needs food so are not over eating or under eating therefore, you know that how your body looks is how it’s meant to be and that you are maintains this firm in a healthy way.
I think…it’s been brilliantly written, very articulate and good points raised. It raises the issues of body image and perception very well and comments on how every kind of body is beautiful and should never be ridiculed.