However the obsession with having a flat stomach, having no fat on your body or your stomach is not a healthy one. Media and social media is constantly throwing pictures of photoshopped models made to look perfect like the current social 'ideal' . But those pictures most often make people feel bad about themselves, Make them feel like they arent good enough, dont look good enough and need to change every detail on their body to look better and more like societies standards. But you know what, YOU dont need to change, society does. Being stick thin or having 8%body fat, thats not healthy. Even those who compete in bikini fitness who are usually very lean and have muscles, they have a far too low body fat procent and the way they look on the stage is not how they look for the rest of the year. There is lighting, oil, lots of fake tan, lots and lots of water to suddenly barely any water at all.... and many go on starvation diets just to look like that, then they mess up their metabolism and their body goes all out of whack afterwards. However i am NOT dissing those who choose to compete, it is a sport and if a person finds it fun, then thats their choice. I dont judge them as its none of my business and like i said, its considered a sport.
However, what i do want to bring up is how many people think that how a person looks on a magazine cover or on stage or on a photoshopped picture is not how they look in real life.
You compare your everyday, your bloating, looking down at your feet and your belly sticking out, you see every inch and detail of your body and then you look at pictures of other people, even friends and family and think they look so perfect whilst there are 101 things wrong with you. But we all have insecurities and when people post pictures they are most often the best pictures.... nobody likes posting bad pictures. People stand taller, suck in everything possible, smile, look for the best angle and light and suddenly they look very different in the picture than in real life.
What you also need to realise is that having fat on your body, on your stomach is necessary. It helps protect your organs and is there to keep you warm. Fat is not something bad. Having stomach rolls when you sit down - that is normal. Everyone gets that. Realise that the problem is NOT your stomach, but its your head. Its the way you think of your body and your stomach. If you focus less on your body, less on the way you look and instead immerse your thoughts into something else. Something productive and beneficial to you or your goals then you will realise that you feel so much better and happier.
Stop body checking, stop constantly looking in the mirror and looking at your body, stop seeing your flaws and instead focus on good things and positive things about yourself. Start with being kinder to yourself, saying nice things about yourself and distract yourself when you begin wanting to do body checks or thinking negative thoughts about yourself or your body. Because You are so much more than your body!!! You are your personality, your hobbies, your interests, your brain etc
Also HERE is a post about how normal stomachs look, not those photoshopped ones you see elsewhere.
I have been obsessed with having a flat stomach for years & so this post (and your photographs) was SO helpful!
ReplyDeleteI hate bloating (which is usually when i'm stressed or each 'time' of the month), yet it is something that I am going to have to learn to live with.
Feeling "empty" and having a flat stomach isn't something (a feeling) that lasts...and so getting used to 'normal' is something I am learning to live with. It is hard but a step that is essential in my recovery.