I have been having so many thoughts about body image lately I wanted to share my thoughts. I have an 11 year old boy who has all of a sudden taken an interest in wanting a six pack. I don’t think much of it until I realised that hey that’s what most males in the media are displayed with airbrushed six packs even the action Figures of superheroes have them! And we thought Barbie was bad for girls!! I watched the 1960’s version of batman with my youngest today and noticed that Adam west had no particular muscle definition at all. How strange then that they feel the need to make Christian bale muscle bound in a black plastic suit.

Tonight on Facebook a friend posted a very interesting link to a video about how the media portrays the ideal woman and how they all are airbrushed so none are real. That there is a societal expectation that we strive to meet that perfect image and if we don’t we are failures. We spend so much time and money worrying about how others perceive how we look. I am not immune to this at all I often look in the mirror and feel fat and ugly. I see the lines starting to appear the saggy tummy, fat thighs and the buffalo wings and feel depressed that I do not meet that standard of beauty. I do sometimes look at body and think wow we’ve come a long way, I take selfies to compare just to make sure that there is a change. Then I feel Down because I look at the stretch marks, the varicose veins the loose skin and think to myself you might lose the weight but you will never have the perfect body. Why do I care? I don’t know why I care, i think it may be that I want to feel beautiful and worthy, why do we let what we look like define us?
I am stronger and fitter then I have ever been in my life. I eat well and am starting to get my life back and try new things step out of my comfort zone yet still I think my body image is holding me back and how others see me matters I wish to God it didn’t but it does. How great does it feel to have someone noticed you have lost weight and tell you how good you look. It’s never about the mental strength I have gained or the good choices I have made very rarely do I get you are going to gym good on you or great job for not eating that chocolate bar or well done for working on your emotional eating. Nope it’s you look great have you lost weight?, now I am
Not saying that isn’t rewarding or doesn’t feel great but it says something about who we are as a society and what we value. I will try and add the link to the video it’s food for thought and I think it might just help me to start to accept that I am awesome and beautiful no matter what size I am but that I want to be healthier and fitter and that has to be my focus, how I look can be just a easing side a>https://www.facebook.com/sherrell.miller.50/posts/10153590158355486