Positive Body Image-- When is it Too Much?

We need to talk, babes. There's something on my mind that has been driving me a little bit batty ever since I began my journey to becoming a healthier, stronger woman. 3 words: Positive Body Image.

I can just feel you all tensing up, preparing your rebuttal, but I promise this isn't going to be what you think. I'd like to talk to you about how positive body image can be a wonderful thing, a very necessary thing, in fact, and how positive body image can become twisted very quickly.

Let's start with a fact. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), more than a third of US adults are obese. That is not including adults who are overweight. This means that at least 1/3 of our population in the United States is obese.

Another fact. According to NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association), around 30 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder. 20 million of those Americans are women. Roughly 9.4% of our population has an eating disorder.

We can conclude, therefore that we have two major problems here. 33% of the population is obese, and 9.4% of the population has an eating disorder. And I'm sure there are even more problems related to body image and health than that.

Positive body image began as a movement (somewhere in the early 1990's) to encourage people, namely women, to learn to love and appreciate their bodies, regardless of what the media portrayed as a "desirable" or "normal" woman. This was very timely, as there was a surge in the popularity of supermodels in the late 70's and throughout the 80's. The early 90's saw a major rise in anorexia and bulimia. The idea of accepting, loving, and appreciating the body you have seemed almost a taboo subject. For years society had specific guidelines as to how an average, beautiful woman should appear. These beauty standards were often begun and propagated by mainstream media (go look at nearly any advertisement ever). The crazy thing is, we still have this today. Advertisers are still shoving this idea of an "ideal" woman down our throats.

Yet, within the last decade, positive body image went to a new extreme, something that is unhealthy in a society where 1/3 of our citizens are obese: Making unhealthy bodies seem normal.

I'm not posting any examples on here, because I don't feel like I need to sit here and judge someone's body and tell you if they are healthy or not. But we need to face the facts. Wake up and smell the coffee. Some people are trying to tell us that its okay to be unhealthy. "It's okay to be obese, as long as you love your body."

The truth is obesity is not okay, and obesity is a sign that someone doesn't love their body. In most cases, the same can be said for being overweight. I will openly admit that loving my body is a whole new world for me. I didn't like my body, so I treated it like I didn't like it. I neglected it and did whatever I wanted. I told myself that my natural curves, bone structure, and muscle mass were excuses for my weight--and deep down I always knew that wasn't true. This is what I fear some young women are learning today. I see friends, acquaintances, and even family members who tell themselves these things; that it's heredity, bad genes, etc. I've seen people who I know live very unhealthy lives claim to love their bodies in the name of celebrities who say it is okay to live that way.

Who cares what some famous person says about how you should view your body?! When it comes down to it, you control how you feel about your body.

When I finally accepted that my body was not okay the way it was, that I did not love it, and that I was not taking care of it (treating it as a temple of the Holy Spirit), that is when I began to truly create my own positive body image. When you are obese, overweight, or just plain unhealthy, it begins when you accept you have a problem and your body is not what it should be. How many people will say this? Only people who have experienced an unhealthy lifestyle and who have overcome it.

I wanted to love my body enough to start treating it with respect, rather than treating it like garbage.

Once I had devoted myself to taking care of my body, treating it as my gift from God, I began to love it. It happened one day, about 2 weeks into my diet and exercise routine. I was doing a wall sit for 45 seconds and I felt this intense burning in my thighs. I just remember being amazed at how hard I was able to make my body work, what amazing things it was beginning to be able to do. I fell in love with the potential my body had. And I think that is a huge difference from accepting the body I had a month ago. I don't just say I love my body-- I treat my body like I love it. I fuel it. I sculpt it. I make it strong. Slowly, but surely, I am beginning to see the body God had intended for me in the first place. That is the body I love. I don't want, and I don't need, the body of anyone else. I don't love, and I never did truly love, the body in my old Facebook pictures. I love what is healthy. I love my body now, the body that works hard to become strong. The body that is fueled by foods rich in vitamins and minerals beneficial to its maintenance. I am driven by hard work and tough love, and that's how I have learned to see my body in a positive way. It sounds negative, I know-- but you know how you are proud of someone when you see them do something really difficult? It's that feeling, knowing that I am capable of more than I used to tell myself I was.

So, I suppose what I'm trying to say here is this: It's one thing to say you love your body, and it's another to show love to your body. We shouldn't be telling ourselves and our children that an unhealthy body is beautiful. We also shouldn't be telling ourselves and our children that skinny is the only beautiful body. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. Your body is God's creation. So is the Earth. Is an oil spill beautiful? Is pollution beautiful? We are called to care for and respect our bodies, and part of that includes proper diet and activity. Don't get me wrong, my intention is not to shame anyone at all. My intention is to create awareness. We, as strong, beautiful women of God, need to stop making excuses and start treating ourselves and our bodies with respect. And that all starts with a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of lifestyle.