The Well-Kept Body Image Secret
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 3:03PM
MAD21 in Body Image, Young Adult, Young Adults

By Mallory

So. Awkward subject, but I bet someone out there can relate.

When I went to college, I gained weight - pretty much the official Freshman 15, actually. Then I lost 25 pounds, over 4 months, in a healthy way.

But I didn't even notice a difference in the way I looked. In the mirror, I looked as big as ever. So I've learned that my actual jean size has nothing to do with how I feel about the way I look.

Which is really scary.

Changing your appearance doesn't help your self-image if there's already something wrong. Losing weight didn't solve my problems. New clothes, new hair, new makeup...  they didn't, either. When I looked in the mirror this morning (and yesterday morning, and last week and last month) and hated the way I looked just as much as I did a year ago, two years ago...

It's obvious there's a problem, and I know it's not just me.

Why don't I think I'm beautiful?

Why don't my friends think they're beautiful?

Why are the thinnest girls I know as insecure as I am about the way they look?

Why aren't models thin enough? Check out this article about how Ralph Lauren fired their model, Filippa Hamilton, for being 'too fat.' She is a SIZE 4!

Here’s the well-kept body image secret: It has nothing to do with what you actually look like. It’s about learning not to hate your body.

Ladies (and gentlemen, too), it looks like we’ve bought another lie.

Article originally appeared on Make a Difference to One (http://makeadiff21.com/).
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