Are you happy with your body?

Increasingly so, now that i've recently joined a gym and getting more toned.

As far as 'pressure' goes, the only pressure that is on me, comes from myself. I want to look good and looking good and feeling good are interlinked quite strongly IMO. It's not media pressure, i simply want to look good and feel good, the benefits of exercise also not just physical but mental benefits.

Reply 2

ToysRUs

1

Nope, despite knowing I've filled up a bit from the gym I've realised there's a limit, and my body size is naturally small and thin boned. In the world of men, that's a joke, and even less recognised as an issue when compared to "round" women.

Reply 3

I'll just add, in my younger years, up till approx 18 yrs of age, i was naturally very slim, some called my skinny - the skinny tag pissed me off at times, particularly at high school. They didn't mean this in a harmful way, but it did upset me a little, as i didn't like being as slim as i was, yet i could do nothing about it. So those who are naturally slim/very slim/'skinny' can get a raw deal when it comes to being described as such. There are some who are the aforementioned that aren't happy with being as such...some can be content with being naturally slim, i wasn't, i wasn't content with the extent to which i was slim/skinny...but from 18 onwards i've put weight on/beefed up, mainly owing to the student lifestyle of alcohol and takeaway consumption, to such an extent that i put too much weight on, and i'm now at the gym losing and toning, now happy at the 11st i found myself at. And the toning is going ok too.

Reply 4

L i b

19

Oh ffs, if you think you're fat, stop eating and do some bloody exercise. It's that simple.

But then again, people today want everything to be handed to them with no effort whatsoever on their part.

Reply 5

Lib North

Oh ffs, if you think you're fat, stop eating and do some bloody exercise. It's that simple.

But then again, people today want everything to be handed to them with no effort whatsoever on their part.

But then you'd be doing plastic surgeons et al, out of business! :frown:

Reply 6

Schmokie Dragon

Have Your Say

A third of women who are size 12 think they are overweight or fat, a BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat survey shows.

Over 25,000 people aged between 17 and 34 were quizzed about their bodies. More than half of women questioned said they would consider plastic surgery.

Young men also seem to be under pressure to look good, with one in five in their 20s saying they have taken protein supplements to bulk up.

Is there more pressure on young people today to look good? How do you feel about your weight? Would you ever consider plastic surgery? Send us your views and experiences.

Well, I'm a 14/16 and nearly 12 stone (although I don't look like it). I really hate it. Curves is one thing. A nice, curvy size 10/12 would be lovely, but this is just silly. It's not just a case of comparing myself to skinny models. I don't give a toss about them. But I still don't feel right. I feel heavy, bloated, lethargic. I can't run like I used to be able to (5th in year for X-county, oh yeah) and I can't do sit-ups anymore. I know I'm not right, and everyone bantering on about "being happy with your weight" doesn't help. But it is my job and my responsibility to get to a gym. I don't have much right to moan if I'm not going to do anything about it.

With regards to pressure, I think there is a bit of pressure on people to look good. There are a lot of beautiful people out there who are put on pedistals by society. Unfortunately, some of these are not healthy-beautiful, but instead follow diets and regimes that are not practical and even possible for normal people. However, society (while judging people for their weight/size) also makes a big point of telling everyone that they should be happy with who they are, for fear of pushing some anorexic teenager to suicide or some not-so-chubby size 10 to bulimia. What we lack is realistic role models (which isn't gunna happen . . . who honestly thinks that cellulite and size 12 curves is the epitome of attractive? Does it sell records or advertise films? No.) and pressure from society to be healthy. Kids sitting watching TV all day and eating crisps and drinking Coke isn't "being happy with who you are". It's arch laziness and a lack of perspective and control. People need to understand that being healthy and fit (but not necessarily skinny and "sexy") is a very real, very positive ideal, and people should be actively encouraged to work towards that.

Plastic surgery? If I had the money and a supportive partner, I might tweak a few bits. But I'm not into getting drastic face-lifts and 32F knockers. People who think they have to use botox constantly and think that wrinkles are the anti-crist need a reality check.

Btw, I think naturaly slim guys are cute. Esp Benny :love:

Reply 7

WokSz

I'm not at all happy with my weight. I feel I could do so much better if I put my mind to it. Sadly, I have so much stress at the moment with exams and getting into University that I don't get the time to go to the gym or have the motivation to eat healthy.

Reply 8

TheConfuddledOne

10

I am very happy with my body and so is my girlfriend. :smile:

Reply 9

PinkMobilePhone

22

I'm not happy with my body no.

I put on loads of weight over the past 5 years or so, and especially after the birth of my first daughter.
My stomach muscles never went back into shape - she was a really huge baby, so although I tried to do some stomach toning exercises, I had this awful flabby hanging stomach which I couldn't do anything with.

Course it's turned into another bump now, but after the baby is born, again I'll be left with this flabby hanging stomach.

You know like when you see the excess skin that a person has after they've lost loads of weight? Well it's like that when it doesn't have a bump.

It's kind of like an elastic band- you can stretch it so far, but then if you go over the limit, it stops being able to go back into shape, and no matter what you do, you've got this over-stretched elastic band forever.

I would indeed get plastic surgery to sort that out if I had the money. I'd be scared, but I'd do it. But I don't have the money so oh well. I guess I'm going to have to live with wearing long tops.
Until I win the lottery of course :biggrin:

I envy those women that have babies and 2 months later they're skinny as rakes!

Reply 10

Agrippina

15

I'm very happy with my body, though if I could have one or two things changed without going through the pain and expense of surgery I probably would!

Reply 11

One of my favourite sayings...

"where there's no pain, there's no gain..."

Hence, going to the gym and working ones *******s off....

Reply 12

Willans

I don't like my body all too much, but I don't hate it either. I could do with losing a stone or two.

Reply 13

shady lane

I'm really happy with my body :smile:

Depending on your height, being a size 12 is overweight...I don't see what the big deal is. If the average UK female height is 5'5 (I think I read that somewhere) then size 12 is big. I'm 5'10 and a size 10/12, and although I'm on the thinner side I'm certainly not emaciated.

Reply 14

PinkMobilePhone

22

white_haired_wizard

One of my favourite sayings...

"where there's no pain, there's no gain..."

Hence, going to the gym and working ones *******s off....

I'm a self-confessed lazy arse when it comes to exercise.
I hate it with a passion.
Only form of exercise I don't mind is walking, but in this country it's always bloody raining if I fancy a walk lol.

Reply 15

PinkMobilePhone

22

shady lane

I'm really happy with my body :smile:

Depending on your height, being a size 12 is overweight...I don't see what the big deal is. If the average UK female height is 5'5 (I think I read that somewhere) then size 12 is big. I'm 5'10 and a size 10/12, and although I'm on the thinner side I'm certainly not emaciated.

size 12 is not big for somebody who is 5'5" at all.

Dear god it's worrying that people think that it is! That's the influence of all those size zero models - it's making people wappy!

If you're about 5'0" and you are a size 12, then yes it's big, but for somebody 5'5" no way is it big, it's completely average.

Reply 16

shady lane

XenaGlamRocker

size 12 is not big for somebody who is 5'5" at all.

Dear god it's worrying that people think that it is! That's the influence of all those size zero models - it's making people wappy!

If you're about 5'0" and you are a size 12, then yes it's big, but for somebody 5'5" no way is it big, it's completely average.

Honey...your logical reasoning skills are a bit off.

Everyone who is size 12 has roughly the same waist size. I don't know it really but let's say it's 30 inches.

A 30 inch waist on someone who is 5'5 means that person is bigger (in the sense that they have a wider body in proportion to their height) than a 30 inch waist on someone who is 5'10.

So a 5'5 size 12 is in fact "bigger" than a 5'10 size 12.

Reply 17

Schmokie Dragon

XenaGlamRocker

size 12 is not big for somebody who is 5'5" at all.

Dear god it's worrying that people think that it is! That's the influence of all those size zero models - it's making people wappy!

If you're about 5'0" and you are a size 12, then yes it's big, but for somebody 5'5" no way is it big, it's completely average.

There is a difference between "average" and "healthy".

People look at me and say, "hey, you arn't fat! You're just curvy, learn to love yourself". But my BMI says otherwise. I am technicaly obease, and I'm only a size 14.

In the end, we need to pay more attention to health and wellbeing than weight, but lulling people into thinking that being fat is okay doesn't do anyone any real favours.

Reply 18

Schmokie Dragon