Body image is everything! - Just ask my 14 year old daughter!

Rather than eat breakfast in the morning, or pack her school things, or - she spends 98% of her pre-bus morning time on her looks. Does she look good when leaving on the bus? Of course! But personally I think she looks great without even trying anyway (bias? Surely not!)

credit: fotologic

Obviously this is largely an age thing, and many people grow out of this, right? Right? Not according to my 31 year old wife, who also likes to spend massive amounts of time trying on the blue pants, then the black ones.. then the shorts… then 3 different pairs of jeans, because you have to get it just right!

As a male I can understand the need to look good when you leave the house, in fact I now am a lot more selective with my clothes choices and hygiene habits after past experiences of being subjected to howls of laughter and ridicule from the girls in the house when I try and go out wearing track pants and a jacket that are apparently 15+ years out of date (or so I’m told!…)

However, girls seem to have a natural tendency to be more concerned with image or looks than guys do… Or do they?

Here’s some recent snippets of girls I’ve seen around the place:

• 36 year old female weighing in at 150kg (330 pounds) thought it would be good to wear tight pants and a singlet that didn’t quite cover the bottom part of her stomach.. (she was also a heavy smoker with yellow fingers)
• supermarket girl with front-bottom jeans pulled up quite high
• shop attendant girl with Mullet hair do and ugg boots over jeans

Or what about these guys we’ve all seen around from time to time:

• Tight black jeans (too tight) with pointed boots and leather jacket
• bike pants with extra-large bottom and extra tight shirt
• jeans with sneakers complete with muffin-pants look

Too fat.. too skinny… too ugly - these are things we’ve all heard out loud from time to time. My whole life I’ve been reminded of how tall I am (”woah! how tall are you!”, “how’s the weather up there!”, “do you play basketball?”).

credit: herruwe

Obviously body image is quite a subjective thing to some degree, and there are some things that can’t be changed (height), and there are others that can (clothes choices / lifestyle choices / weight). Also, it certainly is important to reach a place where you feel comfortable with yourself - it’s difficult to be truly happy with your life if you can not accept yourself.

However, it’s equally important not to reach that point in your life where you are saying ‘any old thing will do!’. Or, ‘I don’t care how I look!’. While this is o.k. for Saturday night pizza and DVD’s at home, this is really not o.k. in most social situations. Some people really have fooled themselves into thinking ‘I dont care how I look’ is a good statement, or that this translates into ‘I’m so free and happy not to care about my appearance or body image, so everyone else needs to think more freely like I do!’.

There’s a couple of things wrong with that way of thinking. I’m not suggesting everyone should be trim and lean with rock-hard abs by any means, but there are some simple reasons why people should take pride in their appearance, and I’m talking about me here as well:

You will feel better about yourself if you are well groomed. Other people around you will also be more receptive to you: if you want to live a life where you enjoy yourself and are comfortable with yourself, you need to start taking some pride.

Wear clothes that fit comfortably. You can work on weight loss if it is an issue in your life, but the size 6 pants that look so good on someone you’ve seen on TV probably don’t look quite so good when you’re bulging out the top of them.

credit: lanuiop

Be a good role model to others around you. Kids in particular will find it hard to enjoy a life that incorporates healthy eating, exercise and healthy choices if parents or role models are doing the opposite.

Concentrate on how you would like to look. Are you comfortable with yourself? You can change how you look! It takes a conscious decision to make some long-term changes, and a lot of dedication.. but it’s worth it in the end.

Develop a healthy self-esteem by having a positive attitude. Body image has a lot to do with how a person feels about his or her own physical appearance.

Do some research. Learn about some easy ways to stay healthy, exercise, diet, keep healthy and stop smoking! Don’t give up!