Body Image is an issue which can be of primary importance to teenagers. It not difficult to see that this is priority due to the medias unrealistic interpretation of how a typical female or male is meant to look like. We frequently see these size 0 women and incredibly masculine men in TV shows, covers of magazines, Music videos and practically all types of image related
advertising all of which teens have impressions on everyday.
What is important for teens to understand is that these Bodies are usually that of highly paid fitness models who dedicate their lives to achieve their physique. While it is possible to achieve this physique with a lot of work it is not realistic for most teens. For example, just because your a swimmer doesn't mean you have to swim like Michael Phelps!
Personally, during my teenage years, I disliked my body. I had a fixation with getting a big muscular physique. Of course I made Loads of mistake but eventually after about 2-3 years I achieved a lean 210 physique. Was I happy?! No! I felt like I had too much Body Fat. As a result, I spent some time losing the excess Body Fat. Was I content now?! No! My chest was too small, I couldn't see my lower abs, my shoulders weren’t in good proportion to my arms... I could go on... Are you starting to see my point!
Eventually, I realized that I would never be 100% satisfied with my body. There would always be something I wanted; a bigger chest, lower abs, Bigger Biceps etc. At that point I began to look at the bigger picture and say;
"Hey, I have a great body, I'm proud of it and I'm not going to spent my whole life being obsessed with it!"
This is exactly what I want teens understand. Your never going to be totally satisfied with your body. There will always be something.
While there's nothing wrong with trying to achieve a better Body Image, don't strive for a cover model Body unless your willing to put in years of effort and sacrifice a lot of your youth. Strive to lose a few pounds of fat or to put on a few pounds of muscle.
My message to all you teens is that you should be proud of your body, and if your not, set a realistic goal where you you WILL be proud of your body!
Of course, The most important thing when setting your Health and Fitness goals is Information and Knowledge. Without Information and Knowledge of the three aspects of Dieting, Exercise and lifestyle the effectiveness of you losing weight or building muscle is going to be severely hindered. So get the right Know-How!
With so much information bombarding us from TV, magazines, radio, supermarkets etc. telling us to eat this and to follow that program it becomes difficult to see the underlying, simple truth behind Fat Loss.
As a Final Note...
If your a teen, don't let low self-esteem due to your Body image restrict aspects of your life in anyway. Life's too short!
All the Best,
Kieran from Body2Shape
Body2Shape provide Free, Impartial, tired and tested Body Image Advice.
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