During the COVID-19 pandemic, I cannot tell you the number of people who have told me how much weight they have gained, how they hate not being able to go to the gym, and how lazy they are feeling. With summer coming up, all of us have some hope that perhaps we will get the summer we want this year. But with the closing of gyms, the constant lockdowns and fewer places to go, it has become quite difficult for people to find ways to look after their body properly. We are eating more, exercising less, and draining our life away. Everyone is focusing on how horrible they are feeling, how their body is looking and how they ‘can’t do anything about it’.
Whilst it is better to be positive than negative, I am aware this is a lot easier said than done. The movement ‘Body Positivity’ was good once, but there were many problems with it. It aimed to challenge how society views the body, help people build confidence in their body and address unrealistic body standards. Whilst it had good intentions, criticisms of the movement were the inability to accommodate certain people such as people of colour, people who are disabled, LGBTQ+, and non-binary. It also disregards the fact it can be a lot harder to be confident in your body just by telling someone to. Telling someone to ‘just be confident’ does not automatically make them confident in their bodies. When people are exposed to what ‘stereotypical beauty’ is, it is hard to suddenly change the fact of what society deems beautiful after it has stemmed from history into our brains. Whilst this view of ‘beauty’ may not change any time soon, I do believe that you can be confident in your body without necessarily having to love every single part of it. And that is Body Neutrality.
Body Neutrality is a self-love movement, a type of acceptance for your body. It encourages you to be proud of the body you were lucky to have in the first place, embracing and celebrating it for what it does for you every single day, which often we take for granted. How it allows you to experience so many different things every day, to learn, travel (hopefully soon) or even hug someone. Or if you are like me, and has a disability, to just be grateful for the days my body allows me enough energy to even get out of bed – which thankfully, is more than the ones I can’t. It is much easier to say negative things about yourself, to criticize and see the bad things about you in every shape and form. Whilst you don’t have to love every part of you, it is important to recognise the good in your achievements and the beautiful person everyone else sees in you. So the next time you look in a mirror and judge how you look, try something new. Think about what you would say to your friend, your family, your partner and treat your body the same way you would treat theirs.
Change the conversation to remove any form of negativity and self-hatred. Drop any that involves body talk or shift the focus to life beyond appearance. Form a supportive network with the people around you so you are not surrounded by body-based conversations that may have a negative impact on you. Social media comes to play as well – if someone on your feed is making you feel bad about yourself, creates comparison-making or self-loathing, stay away from them as you don’t need them sourcing this to you.
Change how you approach food. Whilst you should continue to eat healthily and balanced, also be aware you are allowed to dive into any cravings and desires you have. Focus on how you feel rather than what you think you should be eating. Don’t feel like you have to restrict yourself in what you eat, remember to eat especially when you are hungry and stop when you are full and most importantly, enjoy what you are eating!
Change how you dress and how you use a mirror. Dress how you want to dress, whether that be for comfort or what you find appealing, rather than what you are told is appealing. And when you do, use a mirror when necessary. Mirrors give you more of an option to dig into negativity because you are literally staring at your body – but taking this possibility out during the day is good because you are less likely to be judgemental if you don’t have anything to judge.
Change how you view exercise. You don’t have to conform to society and have to hit up the gym for a full-on, body-sweating work-out. Be careful who in your life speaks about their form of exercise and whether that makes you feel guilty on the inside. Instead, do what makes you happy, whether that be a walk in the park or a team sport. Don’t do it because of the quality of exercise, but instead focus on how it makes you feel afterwards.
Accept your body. Emphasise the importance of feeling healthy, rather than your appearance. Give your body some attention by appreciating it and being thankful you have one to use in the first place. Listen to your body when it is telling you what it wants. And most importantly, never neglect it, because it’s trying it’s best, it’s doing a pretty amazing job and it’s about time to accept how incredible it is.