Be a Model of Self-Love

Hey everyone!

I'm Lauren's younger sister, Adriana. I'm a 20-year-old college student living in Boston. Lauren has been asking me for weeks to do a guest-blog post. After an afternoon of french toast and heart-to-hearts, I've decided to take her up on that offer. I have many odd obsessions that frequent my conversations with family, friends, and various strangers. One of those is my curiosity with body image in our society.

In our society, it is acceptable to count calories, check your weight on a scale, and do strenuous work-outs to make up for a "cheating" day of eating. Let's be real, you must hear your friends talking about their weight gain complaints or their joyful celebrations for losing those extra couple of pounds often. BUT, are these women happy? Are they confident enough to loose the makeup and wear their hair natural everyday? Or has society taught them that their worth is the way they look? Our culture is obsessed with changing our bodies. From plastic surgery to dying your hair and getting colored contacts, it is almost lame to be who you are.

My definition of a happy life requires the following things: Spending time with friends and family, challenging yourself with projects that interest you, being healthy, and truly accepting yourself. In order to be in love with yourself, you have to be your biggest support system. We are so eager to help a loved one, but when are we being kind to ourselves? Two years ago, my best friend said, "I'm AWESOME!" She was serious, and I thought, "what the fuck?" That's a little awkward...who ever acknowledges their awesome-ness to others? This moment has stuck with me for a while. Why don't we accept our strengths and love ourselves first? Now, people can catch me saying bold things like, "I'm fucking awesome. I'm hilarious. Who wouldn't want to spend time with me? If they can't hang with the crazy, then they can't hang with me."

So, if I am dedicated to a life of self-love, why the FUCK would I waste my time focusing on my weight? WHO CARES?!

Yes, some people have health issues and watching their weight is imperative to their well-being (e.g. diabetes). However, I think the majority of people don't necessarily need to worry; it's just society telling us we should. So, calorie counting...measuring your weight....what's the point? These things are produced (especially scales) to make people freak out about their weight. Companies profit from these items, and that's why they are produced. Have you ever seen someone measure their height everyday? Nope. Society doesn't care about height change, but for some reason weight change matters.

Many of my friends often go to the gym because they've "eaten so much pizza" or because they've "eaten like shit all day." I rarely hear, "I like to be a healthy person, so I work out a couple times a week to stay fit." The majority of people at the gym are probably there for weight concerns. The girls are trying to lose fat, while the guys are trying to gain muscle. Why can't we enjoy the food we eat without regrets? Let's eat what we want and exercise to be healthy people!

So I have just thrown tons of my opinions at you. You can totally disagree; I wouldn't care! However, if any of these things struck you, please join me in this movement! Be a model of self-love with me. In a generation of eating disorders, unoriginality, and self-hatred, LET'S BE DIFFERENT AND PRACTICE SELF-LOVE. Your life may be an inspiration to someone who wants to practice self-love, too.

Peace & Love,
Adriana

Some interesting links:

How to talk to your daughter about her body

Effects of photo shop

Screw Those People

11 Facts About Body Image

13 Statistics About Plastic Surgery