If you’re like me — overweight but trying hard to live a fuller, healthier lifestyle — the words “summer” and “beach” are often accompanied with a wave of dread. They imply gallons of sweat, miles of skin that has to be covered up to appease societal standards and an uncomfortable number of television commercials and billboards advertising weight-loss medications guaranteeing quick results.
Of course, to counter every weight-loss advertisement there are advertisements promoting body positivity, with women of varying shapes and sizes (although still not fully representative of the population) advocating for makeup, deodorant and swimwear. An example is the skincare company Dove, which launched a campaign in 2004 called the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty which claims to be “rooted in listening to women.”
It’s certainly heartening to see more acceptance of differing body types in media and in society; more children and adolescents have healthy, realistic physical role models to motivate them. Adults too feel less pressured to achieve an unattainable level of physical and mental perfection.
Let me interject here and say that body positivity and self-love apply not only to people perceived as overweight and unhealthily “fat,” but also to people who appear to be skinny and healthy on the outside, but may be struggling to remain so in their personal lives. While skinny does not always mean healthy, there are people who are simply born with efficient metabolisms and naturally thin bodies, or are motivated enough to work hard every day to achieve and maintain a certain body type and level of health.
Health and activity should be important factors in any body positivity campaign, but have yet to gain much, if any, attention in popular movements. If you love the body that you have, and have confidence in yourself, it makes sense that you’d want to do whatever it takes to appreciate your body by being active, eating healthily and moisturizing daily.
Having a healthy body, no matter the shape and/or size, directly affects one’s mental state as well. Studies show that a diet consisting primarily of refined sugars and processed food can have negative impacts on one’s mood and mental health, such as increasing anxiety and symptoms of depression, as well as amplifying stress levels.
In the same way that thin bodies are not always healthy bodies, bodies perceived as overweight or fat are not always unhealthy bodies. Aside from the fact that the “curvy, plus-sized” models shown in most body positivity campaigns, while still gorgeous and definitely a step in the right direction, are still not representative of the actual so called “plus-sized” population, such as myself. The fact remains that there are extremely few movements advocating healthy, non-medical ways to achieve and maintain one’s desired body type and image.
Essentially, the moral of the story is that no matter what your body type is, staying healthy and active is just as important a step toward loving yourself as accepting the way you look. You are beautiful, important and deserve to be happy with yourself. Remember to eat healthy, stay hydrated, do a couple of jumping jacks, whatever activity you prefer, and take any medications you may have to take. At the end of the day, what matters is that you’re healthy and happy with who you are and how you look.
