WHY ARE WE NEVER HAPPY WITH HOW WE LOOK

Take a look at the picture above. Most people might think that the person in it was happy with his condition. This was me in the middle of summer 5 years ago, and believe it or not at the time it was taken i was completely unhappy with how I looked (as i was constantly comparing myself to others). The more we do to change our bodies, the more unhappy we become, as we are our own harshest critics…..but no matter how many times we put ourselves through the latest diets or training trends, we still fall into the pit of despair that sees us so judgemental of how we look, that being happy with how we look is never within reach, but why?? Today’s social media frenzy is mostly to blame, and not through anyone’s intentions, but more of people’s own vanity. How many of us have ever put up a bad picture of ourselves on Facebook, not very many right. Our profile picture for instance, is always either filtered, or angled in such a way that we look tall/slim/fresh/buff/tanned/spotless/flawless to a point of perfection, and that’s after we’ve scrolled through the 46 attempts to find the right picture for the job in the first place. We all want to look good to others, which is fair enough, but at what cost does this have on everyone around us. I know we’re all fully aware that this goes on in social media, as we are all guilty of it (me included, and maybe even more so, as my job dictates absolute perfection or I’m no good at my job supposedly). Yet still in our subconscious this endless stream of pretty faces, and immaculate bodies we scroll through in the news feed on Facebook affects us, because we find that we never look this way in reality. We all have our bad moments where we don’t look our best. We get spots, we get rundown, we feel unhappy, we get bloated, we put on weight, we lose weight, we are forever changing, so we must remember that this is normal, and nothing to be ashamed of. Two months down the line I’m sitting a little bit rounder, but a lot happier, so i guess my point is this. When your just being healthy (making sensible food choices, and exercising regularly but not overdoing it), and not stressing about your weight, or how the next person on Facebook, glossy magazine, or blockbuster movie is looking, you will be able to focus on yourself, you will see your body change, you will appreciate what you’ve accomplished more, and you will be healthy both physically and mentally. Once we let go of the whole idea of trying to look like A-list celebrities (BEING PERFECT), which is not realistic or achievable within social media and tv, and try to concentrate more on getting into healthy eating, and exercising because we want to be healthy, strong, and feel good, then we will find that we can be content with our bodies as they change for the better.