I haven’t been on top of my fitness regime the last few months, and as a result, I’ve gained a couple of kilos. These have translated into a few extra inches around my waist, which prevent me from wearing half the clothes I own. Now, here’s the thing … I know that I’m not overweight, even with the miniature paunch that has made my body its home. I’m just untoned, and this is something that can be fixed with one week of sweating it out. But thanks to our obsession with size zero bodies with perfectly toned, cellulite-free legs, I have spent weeks berating myself for not taking care of my body.
This morning, I decided to stop agonising over it, and owned up the fact that I’m just feeling a little lazy these days, and that it’s okay. That’s what every girl bombarded by perfectly photoshopped contours in beauty magazines, needs to tell herself …you do not need to look like those (photoshopped) women! And this means…
Your standard of beauty is defined by YOU, not beauty magazines.
Firstly, those pictures are not even real. We all know this, yet we never seem to remember. We need to stop being so vulnerable to mass-produced messages of what looks good, and start focusing on our overall well-being. Google a song called “Sunscreen” right now and listen to it. The lyrics will speak to you.
“Skinny” and “Fit” are not the same thing.
This baby paunch of mine hasn’t reached the stage where I can’t complete a full workout. I just need to focus on toning my muscles. And that’s what we need to remember. As long as you can get a full workout and climb up five flights of stairs without losing your breath, you’re fine. And guess what… It has nothing to do with weight.
Don’t push yourself too far.
I’ve been hating myself for not working out every single day. But that only made me more sulky and I lost whatever little motivation I had to get back in the game. This negative self-talk builds up, and before you know it, it completely takes over your sense of self You don’t need to run ten miles or eat spinach soup every single day to be able to love yourself.
Eat cake for your soul, and kale for your body.
For years, my mantra has been that life is all about finding balance: the middle path. I didn’t even realise when I completely eliminated “unhealthy” foods from my diet. Not that it’s not a good thing, but here’s why I decided to start eating cake again – because it makes me happy. And when I’m happy, I want to be physically active, and when that happens, I easily burn the incriminating calories.
“Plus-Size” and “Unfit” are not the same thing.
I’m going to come out and say it – I am terrified of gaining weight. I have to live with my Punjabi genes, and we all know that this gene pool is prone to obesity. At one point, my fear was so extreme that I would find it difficult to interact with overweight people. Yes, I realise this was completely ridiculous. And then I met a few women who didn’t have the ideal number on the scale, but whom I really liked and enjoyed spending time with. Here’s what I discovered; they were plus-size and not unfit. They were active, and some of them were far stronger and more flexible than I was. But when it comes to myself, I seem to forget this fact. So, for the umpteenth time, my weight is not a reflection of my health. Neither is yours.
