You Have Such A Pretty Face. If only you lost weight.
My entire life people have said to me. Wow you have such a pretty face. NOT oh wow you are pretty. NO. It’s always been you have a pretty face.
My entire life I have been hiding my body. I shouldn’t say my entire life, but I will say I remember hiding as far back as grade 5. Friends, family, strangers, always commented about how pretty I could be if I just lost weight. So as a kid, when you are told that over and over and over again, guess what happens? You believe that beauty is all about how your body looks.
It’s not about health, it’s about how you look. It’s about how skinny you are, it’s about how and where you carry your weight.
I chose this picture, because it clearly shows my stomach. It’s a “behind" the scenes” photo I never intended on using. I look uncomfortable and annoyed because I was both of those things. I had a vision of what I would like int his outfit… but when I looked at the picture all I could see was my stomach. I actually switched to black leggings after this picture was taken to “camouflage” my stomach.
So many of us have a part of our body that we do not like. For me it’s my stomach.
What is yours? Comment below…
Here is the thing… I don’t want to hate this part because of how it looks anymore. I want to hate it because of how it feels. I honestly don’t know if this is possible. It is totally sketched into my brain that beauty is NOT what I look like, but rather what a thin person looks like. The extra weight on my stomach gets in the way… I don’t even know what it feels like to not carry it. But it is truly uncomfortable and I want it gone.
Let me give you an example of other people’s reaction to my stomach effects me. I had to drop samples off to a customer for work the other day. I got all dressed up, I felt like I look AMAZING. I got out of my car (with my mask on), the customer met me outside (because… COVID), I handed him the samples. My jacket was open and I was wearing a fitted top. I saw him look down at my stomach. I could clearly see that he was looking there. I FELT SO UNCOMFORTABLE. In my mind, he was probably thinking she looks great, then saw my stomach and thought wow… she’s really big. I felt totally judged.
Let’s be very clear… I have no idea what he was actually thinking. BUT, I felt like he was judging me.
This is just one example, I have felt this way my entire life. I could give 10000 examples exactly like this one.
I needed to write this, because I wanted you all to know, I do not have this figured out. Not even close. BUT, I am talking about it. I am taking pictures that show my stomach and showing them to the world. 2 years ago… I never would have done that. So I guess that is progress right?
Just know you are not alone, we all struggle… we have all been impacted by these unrealistic expectations that society has placed on us.
I will end by saying… I am so excited to see so many positive conversations taking place about this topic. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all focus on our health. It just means that healthy does not equal skinny for everyone. It just means healthy does not equal a six pack for everyone. Healthy just means healthy, regardless of what that looks like on the outside.
Happy Monday!
Terri xo
