America & The Futile Quest for the "PERFECT BODY"

iluvsparkles

It Doesn't exist people.

And not because it is something we all just can't attain..IT DOES NOT EXIST BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE A DIFFERENT VERSION OF IT IN OUR HEADS

Try telling me that ten years ago, as a teenager who so desperately wanted the same body as her peers, who all seemed to look alike,
and had thin legs, whos thighs never touch together-even at the very top when they are walking(!),
whos tummy below the belly button was flat, or even sunken in!
Whos ribcage was petit and supported a small and pirky chest.
They all wore bikinis.
They all had money.
They all had no idea who I was.

Does this sound like you? ( i know that the guys idea of it is different at that age, but y'all get get my drift...)

I've been in the mood to bring up the topic of Americas Media and how it negatively affects its developing and most impressionable audience...mainly pre-teens and teens, but it applies to everyone..

...because I know we have something in common...a damaged self esteem that led to disordered eating of one form or another...whether it be in the form of comfort eating leading to being (more) overweight, or the other extreme, forcing ones self to restrict calories in some way or another leading to extream unhealthy weight loss...

Most of us here have struggled with this our whole lives in one way or another which is how we found ourselves here...

This site has helped me to realize that there is no such thing as the perfect body, and that the media has screwed my head up big time! I have an unattainable body in mind for my individual self... and it has taken me to year 26 of my life to finally start seeing things in their true light.

Everyone views the body differently, and it has taken me so long to get to a point where i love me for me, and can finally look into the mirror without a terribly distorted view of how fat i am.

I look around, and see that there are not very many people that have celebrities bodies. Mostly because 'real' people do not have the time that celebrities do to devote to the gym or the money to pay a personal trainer to actually 'sculpt' their bodies..literally.

These people have no percent of body fat, and the ones that have even the tiniest pudge are considered fat which makes me just ill. I can't stand to see a 12 year old who is so concerned with her body fat that she becomes a vegetarian at such a young age..and for the wrong reasons.

i know this is getting very long winded, but i have a ton to say about this topic, mostly because the media is responsible for the eating disorder that i experienced early in my life and how i have viewed my own curves up until this point. Some people would die to have a curvier figure, while I have almost killed myself to fight against the curves!!

Either way you look at it people,

Love Your Self. Then your body. (It is not permanent anyway)
Once you learn to love yourself, you will learn how important it is to feed your body and soul in a holistic and healthy way (and organically i hope)

This includes the food you eat, and if you learn to feed yourself healthily for reasons of wellness and prosperity , rather than reasons of vanity and narcissism... eventually you WILL have the body you want. (you just have to change your VIEWPOINT as WELL as your BODY)

i love you guys. and i really mean that.

SHALOM!

iluvsparkles

It Doesn't exist people.

And not because it is something we all just can't attain..IT DOES NOT EXIST BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE A DIFFERENT VERSION OF IT IN OUR HEADS

Try telling me that ten years ago, as a teenager who so desperately wanted the same body as her peers, who all seemed to look alike,
and had thin legs, whos thighs never touch together-even at the very top when they are walking(!),
whos tummy below the belly button was flat, or even sunken in!
Whos ribcage was petit and supported a small and pirky chest.
They all wore bikinis.
They all had money.
They all had no idea who I was.

Does this sound like you? ( i know that the guys idea of it is different at that age, but y'all get get my drift...)

I've been in the mood to bring up the topic of Americas Media and how it negatively affects its developing and most impressionable audience...mainly pre-teens and teens, but it applies to everyone..

...because I know we have something in common...a damaged self esteem that led to disordered eating of one form or another...whether it be in the form of comfort eating leading to being (more) overweight, or the other extreme, forcing ones self to restrict calories in some way or another leading to extream unhealthy weight loss...

Most of us here have struggled with this our whole lives in one way or another which is how we found ourselves here...

This site has helped me to realize that there is no such thing as the perfect body, and that the media has screwed my head up big time! I have an unattainable body in mind for my individual self... and it has taken me to year 26 of my life to finally start seeing things in their true light.

Everyone views the body differently, and it has taken me so long to get to a point where i love me for me, and can finally look into the mirror without a terribly distorted view of how fat i am.

I look around, and see that there are not very many people that have celebrities bodies. Mostly because 'real' people do not have the time that celebrities do to devote to the gym or the money to pay a personal trainer to actually 'sculpt' their bodies..literally.

These people have no percent of body fat, and the ones that have even the tiniest pudge are considered fat which makes me just ill. I can't stand to see a 12 year old who is so concerned with her body fat that she becomes a vegetarian at such a young age..and for the wrong reasons.

i know this is getting very long winded, but i have a ton to say about this topic, mostly because the media is responsible for the eating disorder that i experienced early in my life and how i have viewed my own curves up until this point. Some people would die to have a curvier figure, while I have almost killed myself to fight against the curves!!

Either way you look at it people,

Love Your Self. Then your body. (It is not permanent anyway)
Once you learn to love yourself, you will learn how important it is to feed your body and soul in a holistic and healthy way (and organically i hope)

This includes the food you eat, and if you learn to feed yourself healthily for reasons of wellness and prosperity , rather than reasons of vanity and narcissism... eventually you WILL have the body you want. (you just have to change your VIEWPOINT as WELL as your BODY)

i love you guys. and i really mean that.

SHALOM!

ambertimmons21

Great post!!! Very moving!!!!!

iluvsparkles

Thanks hon...that whole part of America is one that frustrates me the most! I'm glad i have yall to listen to me rant !

lisabeavers

i read an article the other day about sizes, and while it will still frustrate some of us larger gals, what it said was that:

A WOMEN'S concept ideal body for a women is a size 8 or smaller
A MAN'S concept ideal body for a women is a size 12
the AVERAGE woman's body is a size 16

Im a curvy girl. I don't mind havin curves. I like my curves. I like being lush and welcoming instead of stick-thin and bony and straight. I just wanna have SMALLER curves. From the above, looks like boys like the curves we (as a whole) try so hard to get rid of.

kimber607

Hi

Boy I hear ya!
Well written...kudos!

BUT, I think looks may be deceiving...
I don't know how many 14-16 yr old girls (no matter how pretty 'perfect') they look to us on the outside..feel confident about their bodies etc
The media, mags, tv etc don't help
I also think it's just a harsh part of growing up....I look back...I was a size 4-6 in HS and thought what the HECK was I thinking being so ashamed of my body...so much so, I wouldn't even wear a bathing suit...boils down to crappy self esteem
My gf with low self esteem were sleeping around, letting boys treat them poorly....sad epidemic...


I'm 35 now, and wouldn't go back to HS for a million bucks...
Kim

jenbar

Well put Emily!!
Keep up the great work ! You look FANTABULOUS!

mamakitty

I read an eye opening book. It has helped me change my perspective of my body and what it means. I recommend it to anyone who has struggled with chonic dieting, low self esteem and distorted body image.
It is called Life Inside the "Thin" Cage: A Personal Look into the Hidden World of the Chronic Dieter by Constance Rhodes.
It was so helpful.
Good luck everyone and remember your worth is not dependent on your apparence!

iluvsparkles

BUT, I think looks may be deceiving...
I don't know how many 14-16 yr old girls (no matter how pretty 'perfect') they look to us on the outside..feel confident about their bodies etc
The media, mags, tv etc don't help

well said, honey
This is my whole point... it is so sad that the media puts these young girls in the position of feeling so insecure... when they have nothing to be insecure about! If they only knew that they were beautiful from the start!

that is why i think it is our job to make them feel beautiful in their own skin, because i had no one to do that for me!! and the consequences were costly and long lasting.

So please, everyone, go encourage 'real' people and young ones that they are beautiful, because for all you know, you are the first and only person who has ever done so!!

iluvsparkles

I read an eye opening book. It has helped me change my perspective of my body and what it means. I recommend it to anyone who has struggled with chonic dieting, low self esteem and distorted body image.
It is called Life Inside the "Thin" Cage: A Personal Look into the Hidden World of the Chronic Dieter by Constance Rhodes.
It was so helpful.
Good luck everyone and remember your worth is not dependent on your apparence!

i am going to look this up to buy! thanks for the suggestion

gabi_ele

I agree with you, we are all so different in our genetic make up that no one has the perfect body. What saddens me is that people are judged by the way they look.Just because someone is overweight doesn't mean their house is a mess and they are lazy and sloppy or they ALL have health problems. Compared to some of my skinnier counterparts I have to say that I am blessed with very good health, the reason I am here is because I want to keep it that way and I know that being this heavy is going to damage my joints.
I don't think the Movie industrie and the tabloids are doing us a good service in telling every one that stick thin is sexy. I look at some of these models and I could cry. I don't find them attractive, a lot of them look like a sceletons with skin streched over. I also doubt seriously that it is healthy, since most of them are eating poorly or not at all. I thought Marilyn Monrow had one of the best figures, nice curves and everything in the right place.
I have a lot of friends, all shapes and sizes, a lot of times I wonder why no one is satisfied, even the thin ones are complaining of small this or too big that.... Is it that important to all be a certain size? And why when we reached that goal aren't we happy then?
When I look at nature I wonder sometimes...... snakes ar skinny and most of us don't like them, most kids love elefants and whales....I like sunflowers and roses and little maybells... I wonder if we were all created to be one size why didn't God make it that way?
Please don't misunderstand me I weigh around 300 pounds and for some one 5'7" that is way too much and I am working on that, but I think that with my bone structure I would be sick looking if I would be 135 for instance. I am all in all very happy, I love the life I live , I have lots of fun and even so I am not a size 6 I still go to the beach and ignore the stupid remarks some people feel obligated to make....
This is the way I feel, my personal opinion....., I know there are lots of other opinions out there and that is fine, I like variety:bigsmile:

iluvsparkles

cheers to you gabi! I agree with you on all of those points.

I am so glad that we have this website to get our lives going in a healthy direction...

You are definitely right about God creating us all differently...which is one of the best blessings that we have.

Magazines and movies for some reason think it is ok to promote an unhealthy body image...and while SOME of the models do eat and have super high metabolism, they are making unattainable goals for teens around the world.

Look at these examples of celebrities who were in a somewhat healthy bmi range, but were pressured to become stick thin for more publicity and therefore, making it seem like the 'thing to do' to all of those that look up to them.
there are so many but here are a few as I dont want to 'overkill' on the pics, as there are a wealth of them:

First we have lindsay lohan who started off with a figure who most of us would die for, with curves and naturalness... but became (for many reasons i am sure) a stick thin version of her former self



Amy winehouse



Then the obvious ones, Nicole Ritchie



tara reid