Body Confidence

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My apologies for the lack of posting - school has kept me incredibly busy

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I have strong, broad shoulders and big thighs. I have never considered myself skinny, and I doubt that I ever will – my lower body is too large for that. My legs are long, and I take pride in that, and although they are muscly, I have no thigh gap. And that’s perfectly alright with me. I feel as though the fashion of girls having ‘thigh gaps’ these days has drifted away, and in its wake, it’s left chance for a new body type, where thighs touch, and body positivity is praised for all it’s worth. And I’m glad. Because even when it was the popular trend, I was not part of the party. But recently, I’ve grown to realise that that’s fine. For the most part, I’m healthy. That’s good. I still do at least some form of exercise each week – even though for the sake of my school work it’s been limited to once or twice a week – but my point is, I’m not constantly sat around doing nothing. Yes, it may seem so currently – forgive me if I would rather read or use social media rather than almost die on a run when I have a break from revision – but, I am planning on exercising more. I like sports – I love swimming, most ball sports, most years I compete in athletics on behalf of my school, I’m currently invested in pilates; cycling is often my go-to sport of choice for a quick spurt of exercise (this seems a lot, but bear in mind the majority of this is for school).

But, that doesn’t mean I feel the need to be skinny. Yes, I’ll admit that society plants photos of models with practically no skin between their ribs and the surface of their abdomen, but despite that I’ve decided to follow different routes. I strive more to be like Kate Hudson, or Lea Michele who are more toned rather than all skin and bones. Of course the Victoria’s Secret Angels look gorgeous, but realistically I will never look the same way.

Those who know me away from this blog, or even in real life, will know I love Marvel. In a more explosive sense than just the odd comic book or film. But one of the main things I love about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that they cast actresses based on their ability to play a specific role, and the way that they can portray the character in a way that’s similar to their comic book alter-ego. The actresses that they have cast in recent films have meant that being curvy and not necessarily stick thin everywhere is the new cool. Scarlett Johansson and Hayley Atwell make me feel more confident in my body, as I see some of my body type in theirs. Their confidence in their bodies means that I can have confidence in mine. Because it’s not the new ‘skinny craze’. It means curves, and muscles, which means that I can relate. And also proves that Marvel’s casting is excellent, providing young girls with role models – both on screen and off – in the forms of Zoe Saldana, Emily Van Camp, Kat Dennings, Hale Berry and Jennifer Lawrence. Women they can relate to, women they can look up to as having realistic bodies.

I’m lucky enough to still have a fairly trim figure. As I mentioned, my thighs are not my strong point, but my waist is fairly small, and so is the rest of my upper body – relatively. I realise that I’m lucky. I don’t gain too much weight when I’m not doing exercise, and doing even a little a week keeps me at the same weight; I can lose it easily enough if I up my exercise routine. But that doesn’t mean that I’m skinny. I’m healthy. And that’s the way I’d like to keep it. My recent revelation means that being the size that I am – although it’s not considered ‘plus sized’ is still considered far above the norm – I can be happy and healthy. My diet isn’t too unhealthy; I only eat junk food on the rarest of occasions, and for the most-part I’m looking pretty good. This doesn’t mean I have utter confidence in my body; it doesn’t mean I won’t try and hide my stomach whenever I sit down in a bikini. But it does mean that I’ve gained some positivity towards my body. It means my birthday list this year included two bikinis. It means I’m planning on adding to the four I currently own, and most of all it means I’m more at peace about the way I look than I ever have been before.

Which means you should be too. X

#BodyPositivity #Confidence