How to Start Loving Your Body?

Growing up in your teen years, learning to love your body is one of the toughest things that you will ever do. For those of you who are still struggling with this process, have patience you will end up loving what you see in the mirror. Here are a few tips that personally helped me when I hated how I looked and wanted so bad to look like anyone else:

Stop comparing

This is one of the toughest things that you are going to do in your entire life, but when you stop comparing what you have with what others have, that is when you will truly be at peace. Do not look at who the ‘hot girls’ in your social circle are and wish that you were their size. I used to do that a lot, and it is extremely unhealthy. It isn’t going to help you in any way at all. The next time you start wishing that you looked like someone else, shout at that inner voice and shut it up! Eventually, it will completely disappear.

Know genetics play a role

You might be someone who has been busting their ass at the gym, day in and day out and you still aren’t as stick thin as you aim to be. Firstly, know that aiming to be stick thin isn’t healthy at all and that everyone has a different body type. The person you might be aiming to look like might have narrow hips while you might have wide hips, and vice versa. As much as you might think that it is unfair, genetics does play a factor in what your basic body shape is.

Know that media is air-brushed

One of the main reasons that all of us are even participating in this race to be the thinnest is because we are told to, by media. All the actresses, models and singers look so good gracing the covers of different magazines that we start aiming to be like that. Stop living in a bubble and realise that every single thing that you see on screen has been airbrushed and photoshopped a number of times before it even reaches you. No one looks that good in real life, it’s all thanks to an application known as Photoshop.

Know your self-worth isn’t attached to your body 

This was something I wish I had realized sooner in my teens. I believed that if I was fat then that was all that I was going to be known as my entire life. Your weight is just one small aspect of the person that you are. Do not let it become who you are. You have so much more going on for you such as your brains, personality, mannerisms and sense of humour, to name a few. Your weight is merely one aspect of you. Do not let a number on the scale define you.

Only care about what you say 

This, too, is one of the toughest things that you are going to do in your life. We have always been conditioned to care about what others say and that is not healthy. Suppose you are completely happy with what you weigh and look like and some jerk comes and calls you fat. As much as you don’t want it to, it will affect you. You need to start giving your opinion a priority in your life, instead of anyone else's.

I know it is tough, accepting yourself as you are and loving yourself for who you are. But give it a shot, it is the best thing you will ever do.



Written by Sanaa Mehra
Avid reader who will read anything thrown her way (provided that its fiction), Grammar Nazi to the T and a Lover of anything made by Bollywood (I mean anything.) If you're feeling sentimental, here I am!