Confidence with our own bodies is something probably every woman and most men have struggled with. As a gymnast turned triathlete, I spent my childhood, preteens and teens in a skin tight body suit. Both gymnastics and running are sports where you may commonly see eating disorders due to the "expected body types" however I was lucky enough to get through awkward puberty without falling into this unfortunate trap.
I want to bring my experiences as an athlete to other adults and/or young adults (athlete or not) of any shape or size as to how to maintain a positive body image.
Even though I was lucky enough not to fall into an unhealthy hole of body image I have and still do struggle at times just like we all do - and thats okay. Especially as woman we feel different - and even look different all the time due to hormonal fluctuations, and I think this is the main foundation to the journey of physical self love.
ACCEPTANCE
Much more difficult to do than say - but you must accept yourself. This is you now, this is your body this is your physical essence, the way you take up physical space, made out of matter this is you.
Look in the mirror and name some things your body does for you - it breathes, it fights disease, it detoxes, it brings you places. Something that gymnastics taught me is that my body is a tool. I never worked out to look a certain way or be fit. I worked out to perform. I held this from the young age of 6 years old through puberty in triathlon at 12-20. I truly believe this is what kept myself from breaking the line of an unhealthy body image. Even when I became to mature and my body was no longer looking like how I thought I should look (gymnastics does give some extremely high expectations of constantly having a six pack and no hips), I was so deeply entranced with training for triathlons that instead of focusing on how my body should look I was obsessed with what my body could do.
Representation is also very important. We come in all shaped and sizes, even to the extent of elite athletes in the SAME SPORT there is still different shapes. All though some are favoured, seeing someone who looks like you doing something you love somehow really helps accept yourself - this can be applied to anything, not just in sport.
Here is an example of two very talented olympic level gymnasts who showcase two popular gymnast body types:
images from : https://usopm.org/nastia-liukin-gold-runs-in-the-family/
VALUE HEALTH
I have my toughest moments when I binge and eat something "bad". I feel awful from the food and I feel awful from guilt. When this happens I first ask myself - was it worth it?
Sometimes it is. For me chips, ice cream and pizza? Worth it. I am aware that these are not the best things to put in my body but for the enjoyment factor the indulgence was worth it. I give myself a rest and eat my veggies the next day.
If the answer is no (for me cookies and cake usually are not worth it) then I value my body telling me that this is not the best fuel for it, and let it go.
Notice how in both scenarios I put value on happiness and how I feel. This is the most important thing.
I once was under-eating compared to the training I was doing and lost some weight. I was afraid of certain foods like bread and most spreads (peanut butter, jelly, margarine, ketchup). This happened when I felt that I wanted to look more like traditional runway models (smaller frame, especially in the shoulders, thinner on the tummy), I was also beginning to get into gymnastics again for the first time in years and thought that if I micro-managed what I ate I would some how do better. What needs to be recognized is that this is an unhealthy frame of thinking. No matter how much food I cut out my shoulders would not get smaller - I am just broad, and I definitely would not see better results in the gym due to lack of direct energy from carbohydrates. I am so thankful that I was able to get out of this habit and recognize what my body NEEDED once again. Once I did my training went up, my mood went up and my energy went up.
SPEAK KINDLY
I was once told that my running coach had said to my teammates that if I did not do triathlons and just focused on running, I would lose my swimming shoulders and biking legs and become a great runner.
As someone who that same year had qualified for the world age groupers championship in triathlon yet could not break the top 20 at provincials in cross country running, luckily my performance before looks brain kicked in here.
Looking back those words could have really hurt how someone sees themselves. Although we cannot control what others say, we can control what we say and this includes what we say to ourselves - and I really believe that ourselves are our biggest critique (at least in my case, I am by about 1 million percent).
Be mindful when you speak to others.
Watch what you say to yourself. If you catch something demeaning, check yourself. Acknowledge that thought and ask where it came from, why it is present and if it is credible.
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Remember not everything your head says is true and sometimes you just need to be the watcher and correcter - until finally it is trained to love.
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