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Live GR: Body Image, 13th July 7:30 AEST
Hey guys!
This Monday we're going to be having a live Getting Real chat surrounding Body Image! 😄
The way we view ourselves and our bodies is so important to talk about, because it directly impacts the way we think about ourselves and the way we treat ourselves!
We're all so different in lots of beautiful ways! But a lot of the time we're fed this toxic idea that there's a right or wrong way to look and that's just not true! Things like advertising and social media, as well as other societal pressures, really feed into this and it's hard to escape the negativity when it comes from so many different places 😞 So we'll be chatting about ways to challenge this!
We've been talking a lot about Body Image here on RO this month
There's the awesome Guide To: Body Image!
as well as the Let's Chat: Body Image ! 😄
Which you should check out! 😄
We'll be kicking off this live chat at 7:30 pm AEST and we'd love to see you all there!
Body Image can be a super confronting issue to talk about, so if this GR brings up some triggering feelings both Kids Helpline and the Butterfly foundation are really good resources to reach out to! We really want this GR to be as safe and welcoming for everyone as possible! So we also encourage you to check out our community guidelines here as well as RO's 6 ways to be body positive page
Can't wait to chat Monday! 😄
What are your top tips and/or what steps can you take to develop a healthy body image for yourself?
-Making sure you recognize your strengths, and what your body can do (even if it's as simple as reminding yourself 'my body is amazing because I can breathe and my heart works hard!).
-Don't compare yourself to others!
-Always remember that it's totally normal for a body to change, everyone's does.
aaandd onto question 5! 😄
What are your top tips and/or what steps can you take to develop a healthy body image for yourself?
What are your top tips and/or what steps can you take to develop a healthy body image for yourself?
I think overall it's really important to treat yourself with compassion, and to extend the same empathy towards your own body as you would towards a friend's
What's something you wish you knew about healthy body image when you were younger?
I didn't know realise how much my body would change over the years. I thought I would be the same size or look the same as I did when I was younger. But my body is always changing and I keep discovering new things about it.
I also didn't know about how much effort and all the work that can go into producing images of celebrities or models. Some celebrities would say that they just used makeup and things like that to look they way did, and I would believe them, when in reality they had some cosmetic procedures.
@Lost_Space_Explorer5 I agree with you. I also thought that because I was teased about aspects of my appearance, people would like me more if I changed them. That ended up not being the case at all. I'm no longer in touch with most people I knew when I was at school so it didn't even matter in the long term.
What's something you wish you knew about healthy body image when you were younger?
Oh man, to put it very bluntly... who cares what immature boys think of you!! Man, I have to admit that even after 10 or so years, I still think about all the comments friends/ classmates and especially boys have made to me. Everyone grows at their own pace, everyone has their own body, everyone has their own style... never try to change yourself due to what other people think!
(Also, I even remember when a teacher said to me 'you look so much better now than you did in year 7!'... oh, you mean when I was an actual child? Ah, the standard of children to look 'beautiful'! Gross.).
i really agree with what you guys have said about stuff like tik tok! it can be so hard to remember that people present a certain image of themselves because it's how they want other people to see them
@ecla34 - exactly! No one really posts their bad days on social media. Some days I feel bad as I see my feed filled with selfies and knowing I haven't taken a photo of myself I'm happy with all year... but no one can really tell what someone is going through just from an image.
Time for another question!
What's something you wish you knew about healthy body image when you were younger?
What's something you wish you knew about healthy body image when you were younger?
I wish I knew that people make insults about your body when they’re jealous of you! I’ve always been thin and when I was in year 5 I was called fat (I was underweight and fat from fat) and ever since then I have never looked at myself the same way. I was so young and looking in the mirror picking out so many unnoticeable imperfections which made me so paranoid that people would notice them. I actually think this started my issues I have today maybe if I knew that this person was jealous, I could love myself a little more and go back to never even thinking about how I looked.
![Smiley Tongue Smiley Tongue](https://forums.au.reachout.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-tongue.png)
I wish I knew that no one can really look like that and that no one looks exactly the same. I wish I told myself this because I started trying to look like her in unhealthy ways.
@Bananatime04 I'm so glad that there are other dolls out there now which have more realistic bodies. When I was growing up, we mostly either had Barbie or Bratz, and both didn't look like how people normally look.
I heard that if Barbie was real, she wouldn't be able to stand due to her proportions.
Has there been anything that has positively influenced your perception of body image?
I think just generally being sick of the negativity and toxicity surrounding body image, and knowing how damaging it can be. It's also nice to see an increase of diverse body types in the media, instead of having one thing being constantly promoted. This is going to sound weird but also embracing my sexuality, I know personally I was so in the closet I always blocked my feelings towards women and instead of allowing myself to feel attraction I negatively compared myself to them. Accepting myself has made me appreciate all body types! I'm aware this probably isn't everyone's experience, though I generally think Pride is a really good place to find positive body image and self expression!
I'm so sorry that someone called you fat @Bananatime04! 😞 That's such a difficult thing to hear, especially at that age. I think it's true that sometimes people pick on others because they're jealous or have issues of their own.
Here's our lucky last question:
Has there been anything that has positively influenced your perception of body image?
Has there been anything that has positively influenced your perception of body image?
I follow a few Facebook groups and tiktok accounts that promote positive body image so I feel like that’s a big one for me and also reading all of your replies has really helped me because we all have different answers and it’s nice to add/expand my answers and try see things how you guys do 🙂
Has there been anything that has positively influenced your perception of body image?
I was influenced by songs about developing a healthy body image, such as All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor and Pretty Hurts by Beyonce. It has also helped me to look at photos of celebrities when they're out and about or before they were edited as opposed to how they look on album covers or in magazines.
I also think it's helped me to be surrounded by people who are more positive about their bodies and are of all shapes, sizes and appearances as opposed to people who complain about their body or try to change their appearance all the time. I remember having an interesting conversation with one of my nursing home residents about how our bodies have changed as we got older. It was amazing that despite growing up in different generations, we had similar experiences.
On a related note to earlier: it's so frustrating and awful that people use fat as an insult. There's literally no right size to be! Weight doesn't say anything about your personality, your health, or your value as a person why is society like this? 😞
@ecla34 exactly, and what is seen as 'fat' can be so different anyway as people carry weight in different places. Like I honestly don't know if I'm overweight or not, my BMI suggests I am but I carry all my weight on my legs so it's confusing. Also, some people are so obsessed with BMI, but research suggests it isn't really accurate for everyone, as long as your keeping yourself healthy!
Also, in my experience gaining muscle can definitely cause you to gain weight, too!
(replying to latest question, just pushing through brain fog haha).
Unfortunately it's time to wrap up now.. But thank you so much to @Hozzles @ecla34 @Bananatime04 @Bee @WheresMySquishy for chatting tonight about body image! You all had very insightful things to say and gave me new perspectives on things! 🙂
For anyone who couldn't make it on the chat tonight you are welcome to respond when you get the chance! 😄
Good night everyone! 🙂
Thanks so much for chatting everyone! I really enjoyed this discussion 😄
Night all!!!
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