What’s really to blame our “Skinny Obsession”
Weight loss and diet! Diet and weight loss! When you are in the company of other women, regardless of where you are or what you’re doing, these subjects always come up in conversation and you can discuss them for hours.
Why women are worried about picking up weight from eating a bunch of grapes? Why do you always ask your boyfriends/husbands if your bum looks big in a pair of jeans?
Uncomfortable to share on a weight loss!
Go to any gym today and speak to the young women who daily exercise there, or ask a yoga teacher or gym instructor what is the common complaint their clients have, and they will say that women are constantly thinking of how they can reduce weight and remain trim like the actresses/models on screen.
These might seem like some useless questions to the average person, but is it really? Is the answer as simple as we make it out to be?
Sometimes it isn’t, but the real question that we need to ask ourselves is: Women, do you even know WHY you are self-conscious about your bodies?
The well-toned and well sculpted bodies of Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and even the yummy mummies like Karisma Kapoor and Malaika Arora Khan become an ideal for young women who become mothers.
They constantly obsess with the way they look soon after they get a baby and want to fit into dresses that they wore before their pregnancy, so that they can again look good and attractive.
I believe women are indoctrinated into believing that their bodies will not be good enough until they’ll be able to fit in some size 0 jeans.
And you guys are being brainwashed into that concept EVERY SINGLE DAY.
You wake up in the morning, turn on the TV for the news, who do you see?
The fine and fit weather girl and her “warm fronts.” You check your e-mail before you even open your Inbox folder, what do you see?
Pop-up ads with promises to make you lose weight instantly with pictures of *surprise, surprise* slim women. You buy yourself a magazine, you check out the features, what do you see once again? Articles on how to lose a ridiculous amount of weight with pictures of slender chicks wearing skimpy outfits to show off their slenderness (is that a word?)
Like I said, this is a cycle that happens more regularly than you think!
“The minute I start with my consultations, women come to me with demands that are difficult on common standards. They want to achieve a certain measurement for their thighs, waist, hands, and hips and so on.
They do not understand that fitness is about achieving a weight that is proportional to the height and maintaining a good BMI. Wonder where they get these measurements from?
They obsess, they stress, eat very less and then fall sick because their immunity levels go down.” Across these age groups, they not even sleeping enough and have relationship issues with their partners fretting over their weight and they go on all kinds of fad diets and do not eat at long intervals of time.
Whether it is young women or women who have just delivered a baby even older women, they are in a race to look good.
They are so obsessed that even if they splurge on ice-cream or pizza, they start thinking of puking it out in some time or taking laxatives.
They feel that they can remove such food from their system by consuming laxatives. This is totally wrong!
This only spoils the system further.” Many times the reason for looking good is often blamed by the women on their partners, they feel that men can never accept fat women.
So how do we lose weight without obsessing over it?
First of all, you must come to terms with the fact there will never be a quick-fix weight loss plan! There is no magic diet pill or supplement, no piece of exercise equipment, or combination of foods you can eat that will make you lose astounding amounts of weight in record time.
If you want to successfully lose weight — and keep it off — you must change your attitude about yourself and about food. This takes dedication and determination but it can be done.
Change the way you think about the word DIET!
A diet is usually a restrictive, less than pleasurable set of rules you can never follow for the rest of your life — no matter how hard you try.
When you are on a trendy or fad diet, you tend to deny yourself the foods you enjoy eating.
“Oh, I can’t eat that… I am on a diet!”
So while everyone else is happily eating chocolate cream pie for dessert and you are munching on an apple or pretending to enjoy your cup of sugar-free pudding, you are secretly hating them and hating yourself for being on a diet.
Its okay to make such sacrifices for specific reasons now and then.
But if you constantly deny yourself because of your diet, what happens when you face a major upset or disappointment?
You will bury your face in a chocolate cream pie and eat the whole thing!
Denial never got anyone anywhere.
The things you cannot have are the things you want most. You think about them. You dream about them. They call out to you from the fridge at 3 a.m.
If you want to be successful at losing weight and keeping it off, stop thinking about what you are not allowed to eat and simply tell yourself you are choosing “this” over “that” because you want to look and feel your best and be the healthiest you can possibly be!
Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the present from yesterday.
At the time of menopause, women suddenly feel that they are carrying extra weight as we get older, our metabolism slows down and there is where we need to adjust our Lifestyle habits majorly.
Each time when you see those favorite pair of jeans hanging there, feel motivated, than feeling discouraged. Let your tight fitted jeans be a constant reminder of the weight you gained. You have to not give up, but realize that you are older and your whole body is changing inside and out.
You need to accept that as long you are fit and healthy, you will still look great even if you have to buy a slightly larger size for now.
Obsessing over a specific weight or size will discourage you. especially if you keep missing the mark due to circumstances beyond your control. As you age it becomes more and more difficult to weigh what you did before you had your first child or to fit into the jeans you wore in high school.
Your best friend might be a size 0 but if you are curvy, you can starve and exercise until you drop but you will never be able to wear the size-0 clothes!
It’s time to focus on becoming as fit and as healthy as you can possibly be.
Once you change your way of thinking about weight or size and concentrate on being healthy, your body will begin to shed whatever excess pounds it doesn’t need.
Celebrate the beautiful, wonderful you.
The best weight-loss “secret” is to love yourself as you are, regardless of your dress size or how much weight you think you need to lose.
If you don’t love yourself now, you will not miraculously fall in love with yourself when you are thin. In fact, you will most likely gain every single pound back and more because you feel as empty as you did when you were heavier.
Self-love and self-esteem come from accepting yourself, recognizing your strengths and limitations, and celebrating who you are.
Each time you punish yourself, neglect yourself, or fall into the trap of negative self-talk because you are overweight, the more discouraged you will become.
Stop thinking and talking about how you need or want to lose weight. Forgive yourself for putting on the excess weight. If you must, forgive the people in your life who caused the stress and pain that contributed to your weight gain.
Take a good look at yourself and consider all your assets and attributes. Yes, you might be a little heavier than you would like to be, but may be you’ve got amazing legs!
It’s been three years, you still haven’t lost the 25 pounds you gained during pregnancy, but you are a loving, caring mother to a beautiful child.
You might shop for clothes in the “plus size” section right now, but you are the president of your own company.
Stop the abusive, negative chatter in your head by complimenting yourself regularly. If you cannot think of anything positive, ask your best friend or a relative to point out all your good qualities, then repeat them over and over to yourself.
Regardless of your shape, size, or weight, be the most attractive you that you can possibly be. Get your hair done, your nails polished, and buy the nicest and best-fitting clothes you can afford.
When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you will want to do good things for yourself.
You will want to get out and exercise because it makes you feel alive.
Eventually, the woman you see in the mirror will be the reflection of who you already are inside: beautiful, wonderful and lovable!
Here is Iskara Lawrence, a plus size model sharing her part of story with body shaming and low confidence.
If you are concerned about your nutrient needs and post pregnancy health issues you can contact me or comment below.
