Respect Your Body: How being body positive helps in fitness
The never-ending obsession with weight loss has driven dieters around the world to new extremes – ranging from a liquid based diet to the new trendy celebrity diets that promise desired results in weeks. The perennial popularity of these fad diets reflects an insatiable hunger to lose the kilos and with little effort, despite the advice from the medical community that slow and steady wins the race.
Fans of celebrities and avid watchers of fitness gurus on the Internet may have given rise to fitness enthusiasts. But this is not always the case. Some of the diet plans we read online are unhealthy and are not approved by nutritionists. Most of these fad diets help to lose weight but might cause hair loss, depression and health problems in the long run. However people aspire to look like these slender and fit celebrities and emulate their extreme weight loss routine , turning a blind eye to the team of fitness and beauty experts who are responsible for the celebrities body image.
I did realize the importance of body positivity and about why I should and value my body despite the way it looks. But once surrounded by mirrors , fashion magazines and giant advertisements where I needed to be a certain body type to wear trendy clothes. The gym fitness centres and beauty industry uses these tactics to profit of our insecurities. . Negative body image can put people at risk for dangerous health outcomes from eating disorders and low self esteem .Body positivity therefore, is a good mantra to follow. But it is not just acceptance for people who are larger in size but also people with all body types – from the lean to chubby. When you put body positivity and fitness together it will not only help to regain a good body image but you will get a sense of happiness from it as well. Do not measure your worth by the numbers on a scale
Maintaining a healthy mindset of your body can help you have a happy and healthy lifestyle in the long run. Don’t work out or exercise to earn food or make up for the calories you gained while binging on crisps on a lazy Sunday. Remove thoughts of rewarding yourself with an ice cream after running miles on a treadmill or in a park. It can drain the joy out of your healthy routine and demotivate you to think it is meaningless. If you take good care of your body inside and out then it will know how to deal with indulgence and excesses.
Focus on how you feel not how you look. Don’t get attached to a certain number for a goal. This taps into mindfulness, which focuses less on appearance and more on exercising for internally motivated reasons such as health and mood benefits. Express gratitude of feeling alive and fortunate of your physical capabilities to exercise. Remove negative thoughts and replace them with appreciation for your uniqueness. Challenge yourself when you can and back off when needed. Use exercise and your health and fitness activities to release stress. Adopt a healthy lifestyle not to lose weight and conform to beauty standards in society but to reduce the danger of diseases and health problems.
Above all, do it for yourself and not to please others!
