Mental Health Awarness Week / Body Image – Time to Love Yourself

camille lola fit field photo

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week so it’s time for a serious subjects…

Body image, Comparing Ourselves, Confidence…

Let’s just be clear, there is no ideal bodies.

 

The trap of comparing ourselves.

We all know that and it’s been said many many time, but all the media around us are shaping our thoughts and our image of the perfect face, perfect life, perfect flat… you get the picture.

For me the worst is that “Ideal body”, which used to be only in magazine or TV but now is also everywhere on our phones/internet. We can’t even distinguished the real to photoshopped content and this is TOUGH.

I did fall in that trap not long ago, and it completly affected my mood, my confidence and my happiness. I would get up the morning like at myself in the mirror and feel unhappy about it. This isn’t right!

Yes body image can affect our mental health, and some people are more affected than others because they are more influenced by what they see or what they hear.

UK DATA

I was really surprised by the amount of people ashamed of their body. One in Five adults in the UK have felt shame in the last year.

And when it comes to social media….

mental health awareness

I think the data that shocked me the most was this one: “One in eight (13%) adults experienced suicidal thoughts or feelings because of concerns about their body image.”

Why are we letting this happened? Where are the regulations at?

Go check out the official website and learn more about this week mental health awareness: Mental Health
 

Words hurt, so be kind.

Because body image isn’t only affected by things you see, it’s also affected by things you hear. It can be someone talking about there ideal body or even mean comments about our bodies.

Sometimes we don’t realise how a little word or a little laugh can really put someone down. We don’t know what people are going through in their life and this can be a trigger to something bad. So watch out, you can think but don’t speak out loud sometimes. On the other hand don’t listen to comment people say about your appearance. What we look like doesn’t define us.

You are perfect the way you are, you need to understand this. Wanting to get fitter or slimmer doesn’t affect how you should feel about yourself.

We need to be kind with ourselves and our body.

Did you know “Higher body dissatisfaction is associated with a poorer quality of life, psychological distress and the risk of unhealthy eating behaviours and eating disorders. Conversely, body satisfaction and appreciation has been linked to better overall wellbeing and fewer unhealthy dieting behaviours.” by Mentalhealth.co.uk

 

Body Satisfaction, what can we do? 

There are many things we can do for ourselves and for other when it comes to body image. Here are a few things we should all try.

For ourselves:

  • Unfollow social media account that make you feel concern or ashamed of your appearance
  • Positive thinking, think about things you love about your body and if negative feelings comes into your mind, switch it back to positive.
  • Talk to people around you. Let them reassure you.
  • If someone from your circle of family or friends says things about your body that make you feel uncomfortable, tell them how it make you feel. They probably don’t realise that it’s hurting you.
  • Stay active 🙂

Check out my article – 8 ways to boost you confidence… 🙂

For others:

  • Always be kind to other people around. A smile or a kind word can change someone’s life.
  • If you see someone struggling on social media and posting about how unhappy they are about their body make sure to message them. Talk to their close circle maybe they can have a bigger impact.

 

You can go to the gym as much as you can, eat healthy every damn day but if you don’t take care of your mental health, it’s almost pointless. Do it for yourself.

Enjoy & Smile

Cam

 

Be part of the campaign #BeBodyKind

Make sure you use the hashtags #BeBodyKind and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek.

Tag @mentalhealthfoundation on Instagram and Facebook!

 

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