body positive zone

Special K Petition!! Sign sign sign (:

[TW weight loss]

In a survey of 185 female students on a college campus, 58% felt pressure to be a certain weight. Society puts insane amounts of pressure on people to lose weight, instead of gaining health- physical AND mental. 

This campaign features women stepping on scales and, instead of seeing a number, seeing words such as “Pizazz” or “Self-Respect”. This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, it contributes to the idea that being thin gives you these things, and that fat people can’t have pizazz or self-respect. 

It also has the slogan “What Will You Gain When You Lose?” which gives the idea that you will gain something positive from losing weight. All losing weight ensures is a change in your relationship with gravity. Commercials like this contribute to eating disorder mentality by saying that your life will improve by losing weight, and when you see this commercial every time you turn on a television or open a computer, it can be very triggering for those struggling with eating disorders- approximately 24 million people in the US alone. 

Last but not least, this campaign supports one of the biggest misconceptions of our society- that health and weight are synonymous. They are completely different things. You can be healthy, happy, and confident at any shape or size, just like you can be unhappy, depressed, or insecure at any shape or size. Being thin does not guarantee health, and it’s not appropriate for a health-based company to imply that losing weight and gaining health are the same thing. 

I don’t know if this campaign is ill-intentioned, just for money, or genuinely aimed to improve self-image, but no matter what it is, it’s a misinformed campaign that needs to change.

The Adonis Complex: Men Struggle with Body Image Too (Via Angie Gooding)

happyandhealthy29:

fitvillains:

We focus a lot on female body image here, but increasingly men are struggling with body acceptance. With rock hard abs and shirtless celebs everywhere, men are feeling more and more pressure to be ‘perfect’.

This was a great post from my friend Angie Gooding (Body Image Specialist) on men and the Adonis Complex. 

Via Angie Gooding

According to Chris Bell who directed the documentary “Bigger Faster Stronger”, “The Adonis Complex is a psychiatric disorder that occurs predominantly in men. It is associated with muscle dysmorphia, where the afflicted person feels that his muscles are underdeveloped and small when they are in fact large and strong, sort of like anorexia in reverse.”  Just as many women feel the pressure to be thin and beautiful, many men feel the pressure to be muscular, lean, and toned. The media glorifies this look, and many men work to achieve this look despite how dangerous it may be for them. 

Men who feel the pressure to be “perfect” are more likely to exercise excessively, groom excessively, abuse dietary supplements, become preoccupied with their looks, are more likely to experience anxiety and/or depression, and are more likely to abuse anabolic steroids.  Currently, the statistic is that 10% of high school teenage boys have experimented with or consistently use steroids. 

Many times, the pressure for a muscular physique escalates into an eating disorder including anorexia and bulimia.  In fact, 1 in 100 men between the ages of 20 and 30 has an eating disorder.  The eating disorder symptoms that men experience are similar to the symptoms that women experience.  According to Theravive.com, “Samplings of symptoms for men with anorexia are food rituals, preoccupation/obsession with food, depression, isolation, anxiety about sexual relations, loneliness, low self-esteem, tiredness, and muscle weakness. Symptoms for men with bulimia include repeated binge eating, hiding or hoarding food, weight fluctuations, depression, fatigue, perfectionism, and dental problems.”  Eating disorders and The Adonis Complex affect both gay and straight men equally.

For both men and women, eating disorders are not discussed enough because either men are ashamed, are unwilling to talk, or are in denial about their condition.  However, there are more outlets for women to share and express their body dissatisfactions or their struggles with body image.  For many men, talking or reaching out for help seems like an effeminate act, so most become reclusive, and tend to withdraw from friends and family.  In addition, men are unlikely to seek help because of the prevalent belief that an eating disorder is a “woman’s illness.”

(Source: inspirefitnesstraining.squarespace.com)