When are we ever good enough?
This post has been on my mind for awhile. I usually let posts sit for awhile before I write them…mainly because I don’t ever get a good enough chunk of time to bang out a post. But this morning as I was looking through instagram I finally felt like I had to write it.
This post isn’t a declaration of what you “should” do and it’s not even saying that I don’t do these things as well, but I just wanted to get it written down in words. I am constantly looking through my instagram stream of “healthy” living people. There are selfies and ab shots and arm flexes and healthy meals all day long. That’s not what gets me. What gets me is the captions below them. The captions 80% of the time are ones of self hate and doubt. They are filled with people who aren’t satisfied with their bodies. Now don’t get me wrong, I am NOT saying we should settle for mediocrity. I’m NOT saying we should be anything less than our best…but where is the line?
Why aren’t your abs/arms/thighs/back good enough? Why isn’t your meal healthy enough? Why is everything so extreme? It’s not good enough to workout, we have to have less than 10% body fat and be super lean and be perfect all the time. We have to eat protein everything because heaven forbid we eat actual chocolate or brownies!
I mean face it, we all post on instagram because we want people to see what we’ve done/what we’re doing and to brag a bit. That’s just the way it is. It’s the means of the times I’m okay with all that..obviously because I do it. BUT why aren’t the captions in my instagram feed saying “look at what I just did?” or “look how strong I am” or “I’ve worked SO hard to get these muscles“? (And of course I’m taking this to extreme because there ARE people who are proud and body confident…but it’s the miniority.)
I don’t really know what the answer is. And like I said I’m not saying I don’t do this ever. I certinaly would love to have leaner arms, but I KNOW I am proud of the fact I have gotten SO much stronger since having Olivia. I’m proud of the fact I can hold her for long periods of time when I need to. I’m proud of the fact I can run, jump , lift and do a lot of burpees. Do I think my body is perfect? No. Do I want to better and stronger yes? Do I feel bad about myself? No.
Body image is a very tricky thing. It’s tough. We do not see ourselves how other see us. But I urge you, instead of looking at your body and seeing imperfection…see what it’s done for you. See how strong you are. See what you LIKE about your body. Change your view and try to see the positive.
And for goodness sake, take a damn rest day every week…and eat some chocolate!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I LOVE this post. It’s so true. I’ve had to wean off of instagram because I’m tired of being saying they are fluffy today when they have a strong six pack going on in the mirror. And LOVE this “We have to eat protein everything because heaven forbid we eat actual chocolate or brownies!”. Eat an actually brownie for once instead of a protein mugcake-it won’t kill you!
Great post!! It’s hard to be confident with so many super lean people in magazines on social networks but your right when will we all see ourselves as enough. I’m working on it. I have days where my changing pregnant body gets me down. I’m not fast anymore, I resemble Humpty Dumpty a little but I’m still out running and being active and I’m proud that my body and mind are still able to do it. So thank u for this post! And I’m going to remember it and continue to be positive.
This is such a great post Nicole and so so true! It is really frustrating to constantly see and feel (for myself and others) that nothing is ever good enough. And that’s a heavy load of expectation to live under. Social media definitely has been a double edged sword at times – motivating me but also making me push too hard at times. Thanks for writing this.
This is definitely something that needs to be said more. I know I fall into this sometimes, especially the thoughts after eating everything in sight and not working out for 2 weeks on my honeymoon. At the same time, I know what I accomplished before I left and I know that I’ll get back to it soon enough. I also think I’ll appreciate my results more this time around knowing how hard I worked before and how hard I’m working now to get there. Definitely something to be proud of.
really, really great post
Great post – and attitude. Even though I don’t love my body everyday…I am very much a “glass 1/2 full” type of gal…and wish other’s aren’t so negative all the time
Yes yes yes. I like to find little body positive corners of the healthy blogging universe to counter all the negative. Ever read FitandFeminist? That’s a good one.
I think women have always been negative about themselves but thanks to social media we can be much more publicly negative about ourselves, and all that negativity is hard to handle. It definitely influences us even if we don’t want it to. It makes us compare ourselves and doubt where we are at. I think Jackie is right you have to find those positive corners and dwell there:) You’re blog is one of those!
Love it and love you!! I totally agree. I think that’s also why I have no shame of posting on instagram. I’ve become so comfortable with who I am and what I eat that I would not even care if I ate a whole bar of chocolate to myself.
I definitely think people use instagram in the wrong way sometimes and I guess the best bet is to kill them with kindness or ignore them?!
Such a great post! I have been writing a series of I am enough posts but I am the first to admit I struggle – BUT GETTING BETTER!