Body Styles: Loving Ourselves in All Shapes & Sizes

Discriminating against someone on the basis of their body size or shape hurts all women.

Poor body image, eating disorders, and low self esteem disproportionately affect women. Did you know that girls lose self-esteem at twice the rate of boys as they transition from childhood to adolescence? In fact, girls are three times more likely to have negative body images. Teenage and young adult women make up 90% of all the people with eating disorders.

Do you fit the requirements for the ideal woman as presented by the media? You must be 5’11” and weigh 117 pounds. It turns out that the average woman in America is 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds. We all have different body styles, and we should embrace the beauty each style holds.

Few women actually manage to fill the role of the media’s ideal woman, but many try. Unfortunately, most of these women end up with low self-esteem and/or serious eating disorders. When women have low self-esteem, all women suffer.

Learn to love your body.

It isn’t easy to let the image of your ideal self go, but you have to if you want to learn to be happy with yourself the way you are. The most you can do is try your best to make healthy choices for yourself every day. Erratic and extreme dieting, or trying to be 117 pounds, rarely result from living a healthy lifestyle.

Respect and honor your body. After all, it will be with you your entire life. If you treat it well, it will treat you well. Take small steps to learn how to love your body:

• Put the fashion magazines down. They do not realistically portray real women or real women’s bodies.
• Admire yourself in the mirror. When is the last time you looked in the mirror to find your beautiful blessings instead of seeking out blemishes? Chances are, you are the only one who even sees those so-called blemishes.
• Dance. Yes, just cut loose and dance. Turn some music on really loud and have a dance party. Dance like you have never danced before. Dance like it is 1999.
• Wear sunscreen. Seriously, it is just so important to the health of your skin. Even on overcast days, a bit of sunscreen will make your face a happier face.

Reading this article will not make you automatically love yourself, but hopefully it will point you in the right direction. If you are a woman, or man, who is secure in your self-esteem, pass these tips on to those around you. We all suffer when the ones around us don’t love themselves.