Is My Body Really The Problem?

(6 minute read)

Picture this

You’re in the change room with your best friends trying on clothes. You see the most beautiful pink suede skirt which will go perfectly with your black heeled boots for Friday night. But the only size left is one that’s too small….. You think to yourself, lets just give it a go. I’m trying to lose weight maybe this will be the motivator I need.

You get into the change room, you try on the skirt and as predicted it doesn’t zip up. The old muffin top is bulging out, your butt cheeks are hanging just below the bottom of the skirt and you feel your stomach drop in disappointment.

You sheepishly walk out of the changeroom to get the moral support needed from your friends. They cheer you on,

“I love it!” One friend exclaims, “it may not fit now but I promise it will motivate you to lose that extra weight.”

“Oh sweetie,” your other friends purrs, “it may not zip, but it will. If you try it on everyday it will help you work harder and eat less. We could even start a diet Monday if you want?”

Such a sadly relatable experience.

The old let’s start a diet to force my body to fit into these clothes rhetoric.

Can you relate?

I remember, I bought the cutest pair of denim shorts when I was about 16. They didn’t fit at the time, but I was athletic, I was on a diet and I was determined.

Did I end up fitting into them?

I tried these shorts on every day. I stared at myself in the mirror and vowed to only eat salad. I was a very determined child and when I put my mind to something, I achieved it.

However, in this instance, these shorts went from an inspiring motivator to a self-imposed prison. Instead of looking at them and wanting to wear them, I looked at them and began to feel like a failure, unworthy and self-loathing.

Holding onto this pair of shorts that would force me to mould my body into a shape it didn’t want to be caused my relationship with food, my body and exercise to change.

I no longer ate well because I wanted to nourish my body, I felt I had to. If I didn’t eat well I was bad and needed to be punished.

I no longer exercised because I wanted to excel at sport, I exercised to punish myself for not fitting into this damn pair of denim shorts.

I no longer saw my body as my home and a vessel to enable me to experience the world, but I saw it as a vessel that wouldn’t do as I wanted. A vessel that was a failure, a vessel that was disgusting.

“But what if the issue here wasn’t me?

What if the issue here isn’t you either?”

What if the real issue is that we have been taught that our bodies are wrong. If you don’t fit into those denim shorts it’s your body that needs changing. It’s your fault your hips are too big, it’s your fault you have a big butt.

“Instead of celebrating body diversity, diet culture shames and stigmatises those who do not fit into mainstream culture.”

I do not believe the issue here is your body or any bodies body. The issue here is diet culture and the fashion industry who do not make clothes that represent the diversity of bodies within the population.

So what can you do?

Stop trying to mould your body to fit clothes that were never made for your body. Start supporting brands that celebrate body diversity.

You do NOT need to diet to fit into clothes.

You do NOT need to punish yourself or abuse exercise to fit into clothes.

You do NOT need to dislike yourself because a certain piece of clothing doesn’t fit you.

You deserve to have a positive relationship with your body and wear clothes that fit. So find clothes that celebrate your body at the size it is and make you fall back in love with yourself.

If you enjoyed this blog post, why not checkout more fun facts, motivation and health tips over on my Instagram page or leave a comment below to let me know what you thought of this article.