Body Acceptance

Body image is an issue for a lot of teenage girls, and especially for me. After struggling with a weird relationship with food for the past few years, I’ve recently tried to stop worrying about what I eat. The plan was to start being nicer to myself and my body and to try to be more accepting of the way I am. Still, I secretly wish I was thinner.

But last night, I had a revelation. After cooking and eating a massive curry with my boyfriend, we were both ridiculously stuffed. We had reached the stage of “food coma.” Immediately after we were finished, I got into the old routine of beating myself up about it. I added up the calories in my head, told myself I should have only eaten half of what I did, and thought about how I was going to cut back on food the next day.

But then I realized that in order to be as thin as I want to be, I wouldn’t be able to cook delicious meals and enjoy them with the people I love. I would have to avoid eating out. If I did want to be social and go to a restaurant with my friends, I would have to order the salad without croutons and with the dressing on the side. I would have to exercise every day, whether I felt like it or not, no matter what the weather. I would have to stop eating meals with my boyfriend, because all he ever wants to eat is pizza and bacon.

I realized, that would be a miserable life. I love eating great food and I love bonding with people. I wouldn’t be happy if I did everything it would take for me to get skinny. It would mean cutting out a lot of the moments I enjoy most in life. So I’ll enjoy my life and embrace the few extra pounds.