Like Your Body

Outside - in, Inside - out

Have you ever felt uncomfortable about your body?
Have you ever been hassled by others about how you look?

"If she thinks she's got a problem what does she think of ME?"

"Oh, man my legs are so FAT!"

We're all different in:

• what we like and don't like,
• who we are,
• our cultures and our backgrounds.

Cultural ideas of beauty can be different.

We also have different shapes and sizes!

AND....

There is no-one else quite like you. 

Pressure

As women we are often presented with unreal images to aim for.

"Wow! She's perfect!"

"If only I could look like that."

Does watching TV, reading magazines, watching videos and movies sometimes make you feel you should become someone you're not? 

Remember, nobody's perfect

Pressure from the media and attitudes of friends, family and school-mates can make us feel we're not good enough.

"Look at her fat legs!"

"Hey! Thunder thighs! "

Don't listen to comments about the way you look.

Worrying about what others think often stops us from being ourselves and from liking who we are.

It's okay to be the shape you are!

It can be easy to get caught up in this pressure and feel that we need to change ourselves.

"I feel so sad and lonely I'm sure no-one is talking to me because I'm too fat!"

"I'll go on a stricter diet and a full-on exercise programme, all my problems will be solved."

"I'll be thin, gorgeous and popular, I'll be the life and soul of the party!"

Have you ever felt pressure to go on a diet?

Diets are NOT the answer:

• Dieting actually decreases the rate at which your body uses energy.  This means that the more you diet, the harder it is to lose weight.
• More often you will end up heavier than when you started.
• Short-term weight loss is largely due to water and muscle tissue loss.  Losing muscle tissue means that you will have less energy to be active.
• Dieting can lead to "binging" - or what feels like uncontrollable eating.
• You can also make yourself ill.
• Lack of calcium (often found in dairy products) while young can lead to brittle bones - osteoporosis - in later life.
• The selling of "diet foods" is big business - you don't have to buy into it!
• Sometimes dieting can lead to serious eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia.

If you are worried about your eating behaviour it is important that you get help. 

There is no simple answer

We have minds, emotions, spiritual and social selves that all require attention. When we are thinking about our bodies all the time, other parts miss out.

Sometimes we eat or starve ourselves to try and cope with emotions or to forget other things in our lives which need to be sorted out.

Things like: how you feel about yourself as a person, your relationship with your family, sexual harassment, and peer pressure.

It is important to learn to recognise what causes your stress so you can find positive ways to deal with your emotions. 

When we are feeling stressed it can be hard to keep ourselves balanced and happy.

Think about what's at the bottom of it all and deal with it.

If you can't work it out there' s someone else  who can!

Be easy on yourself!

No-one can be happy all the time, but there is always someone who can help.

Health - what is it?

• Feeling okay about the way you look
• Liking yourself
• Not having to get wasted to have a good time
• Eating a wide variety of foods
• Exercising (but not overdoing it!)
• Spending time outside
• Learning new things
• Feeling you belong somewhere
• Having someone you can talk to about your feelings
• Getting enough sleep
• Feeling safe
• Having fun
• BEING HEALTHY

Being Beautiful -Outside - in, Inside - out 

We all want to be loved, wanted and happy - but this does not come by trying to be an "ideal" shape and size.

• There is NO ideal shape and size!
• It's about learning to accept yourself for who you are.
• Don't accept the images that are forced on you by the media and others.
• Recognise how unreal media images are.
• Challenge the stuff you hear or see about losing weight and changing shape.
• Give your friends positive feedback on who they are and how they look.
• Learn to look at different shapes and sizes in a new light.
• THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF BEAUTIFUL!
• BEING SUCCESSFUL COMES FROM WITHIN

I'm a lot bigger than most girls my age and I just don't get why, when I do all the right things?

Did you know:

Your body is genetically programmed to maintain a certain weight.  There are other things like age, life events, menstrual cycle, health and our environment, both physical and cultural that can determine our weight also.  It's different for everyone.

Be active every day and enjoy a healthy choice of foods. 

"I often skip breakfast, that's okay isn' t it?"

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  It provides your body with fuel to sustain your energy levels and get you up and going for the day.  Skipping breakfast can make you feel tired and many people find it hard to concentrate.  Whether you're working, studying, playing sport, going to school or anything else, you need to fuel-up before you get started in your day!

"If  the women in magazines and TV ads can  look so perfect, why can't I?"

The media use a lot of high-tech equipment to touch-up images of models. Not only do they touch-up images, they sometimes also use images of different parts of the body, from many different models, to create their idea of a perfect woman.

"Why is it when I diet I end up bigger than when I started?"

Dieting upsets the body's natural mechanisms - so the more you diet, the more your body will try to protect itself.  Your energy rates fall, losing weight gets harder and gaining weight gets easier.

REMEMBER, DIETING FAILS, YOU DON'T!

You said it:

"Don't diet, live a balanced lifestyle."

"Everyone's body is different and special."

"Dieting can wreck your body and ruin your metabolism."

"Be happy with your body, because you are unique."

"Dieting doesn't change your body."

"Love and resect how you are."

"It doesn't matter what you look like."

"Respect others."

The information on this page comes from the YWCA booklet, Like Your Body.

You can click here for a pdf copy of Like Your Body now. For more information, contact your local YWCA.

Check out the Help & Links page for contact details of organisations who can provide support, counselling, help and advice.