Being a woman in today’s culture is difficult. I actually think being a woman has always been difficult. One of the challenges we face in today’s media and celebrity centered culture is body image. I have always tried to not succumb to what the world tells me is beautiful and normal. But I’ve also never really had to struggle with weight or any of those kinds of challenges. As I’ve gotten older, it has gotten more challenging. Several years ago, I lost a lot of weight. I dropped from a size 8 to a size 4 in a matter of months. I didn’t try to lose the weight. I think it was just the stress of this new life I was making for myself. I loved being a size 4. I felt so pretty and thin. I was able to wear anything and not look fat or even question how I looked. (Don’t hate me. I promise I’m going somewhere with this).
Well last winter I started to notice that those size 4s weren’t fitting that great anymore. I started exercising more regularly and trying to eat better. I liked being a size 4 and didn’t want to give that up. But I just kept gaining weight rather than losing any weight. As I turned 29 this past summer, I discovered that I could no longer eat anything I wanted and wearing a size 4 was out of the question. But it was ok because I was a size 6. I told myself that I wasn’t suppose to be a size 4 anyway. A size 6 was more healthy anyway. Well as it’s gotten cooler and I’ve had to put my jeans on, I discovered I couldn’t fit into one pair of my jeans. I cried as I realized that I have gained weight. My mom and I went shopping so I could find some jeans I could wear. I had to wear a size 10. I’m not happy about that. I don’t want to be a size 10. So I’m back to doing weight watchers and counting my points of everything I eat. I’m also back to exercising at least 4 days a week. I like exercise so that isn’t too bad. But I love food. I love to eat whatever I want. As I was upset about wearing a size 10, my mom tells me the average woman is a size 12 or size 14. (I did a little internet search and found that the average size of women is 14) So I’m still below average in my size. But I thought to myself, I don’t care if that’s the average woman I don’t want to be that size.
This thought has haunted me the past week. I realized that I’m giving in to the pressure that the world is putting on me on what size I should be. I’m looking at the images of famous woman and how skinny they are as to what I should look like. Well, if I’m giving in to those pressures, what are younger woman and little girls doing. Girls don’t have real sized woman role models. They have skinny woman who use sex to further their careers to look up to. I’m not saying that they actually use sex but they use sex appeal. I want to be a role model for young girls in my classroom and in my youth group. I want to be someone that girls can look up to as a real woman. I hate to think that being obsessed with the way I look and how much I weigh can affect other girls. I’m trying to have a healthy perspective. Eating more fruits and vegetables are good for you. Exercising frequently is a good habit. I hope these are the habits they see and not a woman obsessed with they way I look.
This also got me thinking about what the Bible says about our appearance. There are many verses that deal with not looking at the worldly view on things but the spiritual side. We are told to make our bodies as living sacrifices. I take this to mean to have a healthy perspective on our physical bodies. We need to do things to keep our bodies healthy but not to obsess about what they look like.
I believe that weight loss should be motivated by health concerns moreso than appearance. You look great like you are now, and don't need to lose weight for appearance!
ReplyDeleteThe big danger for those who ignore issues of weight is getting so far overweight that it becomes a mountain of a task to get the weight back off.