Hello ladies, I thought I would do a more personal article since it is ANAD Week. For those of you who don’t know, ANAD stands for The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, which is an organization focused on fighting eating disorders and raising awareness to the issues. When ANAD Week rolls around, you can often see people posting on social media about their stories or following the daily hashtags, such as #NoMakeupMonday and #LoveYourShape.
I always feel so inspired during this week, to see all of the people who have overcome their eating disorders or are trying to. People, especially women, voice their support by leaving comments and love, spreading positivity, and applauding those who are transparent about what they have gone through. When you see things like this, it is so easy to be like, “Wow! People are so kind and supportive! Heck ya, body positivity!” But then the week ends.
Loving yourself and your body is HARD. Social media can be both good and bad. It is good because you can find tons of people who promote loving yourself for whoever you are, for promoting that any body is a good body. You can also find a ton of motivation by browsing these posts. However, it is also bad. These accounts can make it seem like it is easy to just accept who you are, but the truth is that, well, it’s not easy. You can easily get really down on yourself comparing yourself to “Instagram models” or “fit fam” people. The growing trend of all of these people getting into ridiculous shape, especially women, is hard to keep up with! I know it motivates me a ton to follow the fitness accounts and find workout and recipe ideas. But at the same time, I feel like I am CONSTANTLY comparing my body to the women I see on my screen. Why isn’t my stomach that flat? Why aren’t my muscles that toned? How do I make my booty pop like theirs?
I have always, always, always struggled with my body image. I am a self-conscious person; to be completely transparent, I’m not sure if I have ever been content with my body. Even at my lowest weight, I wasn’t. I has been an uphill battle to get to the level of body positivity that I am at right now, and I still have a long way to go. What I have tried to focus on though is that 1) everyone has something they don’t 100% love about themselves and 2) I should learn to love the body that I have and stop comparing it to everyone else’s.
Being body positive is not easy, it is a choice you have to make each and every day. I wake up in the morning and try to point out at least one thing I like about my body, and two to three things I like about myself that aren’t related to my body. I have stopped weighing myself…numbers do not define my worth. If you are working out, it is also important to note that muscle is denser than fat, so your weight may not decrease or could increase as you build muscle. Whether you have more fat or more muscle or not much of either, accept your body for what it is.
During ANAD Week, and every other week, it is important that we support each other. We are all different, we are all beautiful. Don’t be discouraged if the road to body positivity takes a while, all that matters is that you are still walking down that path. It’s a lot easier if you aren’t alone on that journey, and that is why it matters so much to stop comparing and to lift each other up.