Before you go ahead and jump on that next diet of yours in the final throes of the year ‘cos you’ve now remembered that New Years resolution you made in the final seconds of 2016 and oh God you’ve done piss-all about it, have you thought about how your body is made up? Think about your ~ideal weight~ and whether it’s actually attainable with your frame?
Turns out each person’s body is different (we knew this) and everyones’ body is built to carry weight differently. I firmly believe that this is why we should be looking less at the numbers on the scales, and more in the mirror – because at the end of the day it’s about being comfortable and happy in the skin you’re in, no matter what your shape is.
Now we’re probably all pretty familiar with the concept of a BMI, which takes your age and your height, and calculates what your “ideal weight” is. I weigh more than what the index dictates I should be, and if I look at myself based on this judgement, it makes me feel horrible about my image. That’s it; BMIs are trash. That’s my hot take.
You can be healthy and happy at literally any size, and depending on how your body’s built, you’ll carry weight differently.
You know what else? As soon as your start exercising, and converting tissue into muscle mass, your weight will very likely stay the same or actually increase. Why? Because muscle weighs more than fatty tissue, my friends.
As we’ve grown up, I’m sure most of you reading this spent your childhood in the late 80s/90s/early 00s, we’ve been bombarded with ideals of beauty and incredibly unrealistic images of what our bodies should look like.
To be honest, as long as you’re happy in your skin, and you’re keeping yourself active – which is great for your mental health, as well as your physical and emotional health – then you’re good. Don’t stress yourself about numbers on a scale because tbh they’re just numbers. They say nothing about you as a person; not about your happiness, your personality, your general demeanour. They’re simply numbers and honestly, I don’t pay attention to mine anymore.
The most important thing is that you are comfortable and happy in your own skin, that you can look in the mirror and think “fuck yeah, I am great.” At the end of everything, you only have one body in life, so it’s worth being kind to it.
