Body positive. We’ve heard this term being bandied about for the past few years, and 2016 was no different. Though we’ve heard reed-thin models gushing about body acceptance and famous (and drop-dead gorgeous) celebrities blathering about accepting your true self – what is exactly does it mean to be not conventionally good looking and still being body positive? It’s easy for the rich and famous to say these things, for they fit into the mold of society’s definition of beauty. But what about us mere mortals? With our jowly chins and jiggly bellies, not so great skin or too tall a height?
Body positive means that you accept, like and love your body without any excuses. Being body positive means that those rolls of fat, that patchy skin, that height, that body shape – all of it – is accepted without any ‘need to change it’ from your end. This is not to say that stop getting healthy, or that you don’t take care of yourself, which can put you at risk for health problems down the line. Being body positive does not mean you just let yourself go – but it does mean that you stop berating, belittling or bemoaning every little (or big) fault of yours.
Keeping that in mind, here are a few ‘body positive’ resolutions you could make for 2017 that do not in any way stop you from being healthy. Rather, these New Year’s resolutions help you get healthier in the process – in body, mind, heart and soul.
Resolution 1: I Will Love Myself…
I will love myself…
On the days I work out and on the days I don’t; on my bad hair days and my bloated days, on my oh-my-gosh-that-zit days and on my secretly eaten pizza days – there will not be a day in 2017 in which I shall not love myself, my body or my looks. It does not matter how good or bad I look – I will not berate myself for the way I appear, today or anytime.
Resolution 2: I Will Get Fit, Not Thin
The thing about extra weight is that sooner or later its morphs into health problems. So, one of the body positive resolutions you can make for 2017 is to get fit and healthy. It’s not about what the mirror tells you and it’s not what the dietitian dictates your ideal weight to be. It’s more about you being able to walk and run without going breathless, to be able to hike or swim without getting too tired and basically being able to spend some time doing sports and activities that you love that do not wring you out… It’s also about you having a healthy blood work and no lifestyle-related disorders to be able to lead a good life, now and in your mature years, too.
Resolution 3: I Will Not Let Anyone Body Shame Me
We have all, some or the other time, been subject to various forms of body shaming that have made us feel bad about ourselves and perhaps even weep bitter tears in secret. Resolve to make your hide as tough as a rhino! Let snarky comments wash off you, without affecting you. Easier said than done, yes – but if you win this battle, then even the mirror would not be able to affect how much you love and accept your body and self. And remember, when people are trying to make you feel bad, it’s usually an attempt on their part to feel good about themselves.
We are unique – and there’s no one like us. Our body comes with its flaws and fails and it is these so-called imperfections that make us truly beautiful.
That scar tells a tale of a live well lived.
Those stretch marks talk of a life well loved.
That belly flab waxes eloquent about flavors enjoyed.
That height, or not, is a rendition of family genes and traits.
There’s a story hidden behind the way we look – why on earth do we judge our own book by its cover?! Let 2017 dawn on you with the knowledge of your beauty, the wisdom that lets you see that your imperfections and so-called shortcomings are actually life’s little beauty marks.
A Happy New Year to all you beautiful people!
