TeenSpace

noreply@blogger.com (Suzanne) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:02:00 +0000

A woman�s body image is a factor that impacts her every day life. If you go out of your way to avoid the mirror, your self-image and confidence are things that you should work on conquering. Loving yourself and the image that you see staring you may face through your life; self-assurance will help to guide you. You are who you are so own it and don�t let anyone bring you down.
First, you must realize that you are unlike anyone else in the world; you are entirely your own entity and as long as you don�t allow them, no one�s words or hurtful actions can affect you. If you embrace yourself as you are now, then just think how accomplished you will feel once you reach your goals. Don�t worry about resembling the models in the pages of fashion magazines or the weight that you read on the scale; this number does not matter. All that counts is the way that you feel in your own skin. Many people who decide to shed five to ten pounds do it because they simply want to improve their health and in these types of situation, weight loss is a good solution. But in many other cases, people, usually teenagers such as myself, feel as if becoming skinnier is the one factor that will make their life a million times better and that they will only be beautiful once they lose a certain amount of weight; this is a common misconception proliferated by eating disorders. Don�t fall for it. It gives the scale and your weight too much power over your life. Take steps to feel good about yourself for who you are.

A Real Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Suzanne) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:58:00 +0000

I asked a 17 year old female, that I have known all of her life, to write a brief description of her struggle with an eating disorder. Below is what she wrote
-Suzanne

I don�t remember the day I decided that I was �too fat�. I never got teased about it and it was never talked about among my family members. If it had been, I think my battle with Anorexia would have ultimately been much worse. It was just some little voice inside my head that thought it and that voice won over every other sensible one that I carried with me day to day.

I started eating less and less, creating my own diet of not eating anything that I perceived to be fattening, which ironically included almost every food. If I was eating a sandwich, I�d eat around the bread. All I drank was water; anything else was simply wasted calories. I slimmed myself down to around eighty-two pounds, a weight the middle school nurse told me multiple times was �extremely unhealthy for my average height and weight�. I had weighed in at 112 pounds the year before, when I was in seventh grade, and I later realized that I never even appeared to be overweight at that time.

I was lucky. Eventually I felt my body was slowing becoming a waif of nothingness. I looked down at the jutting out bones in my wrists and saw them for what they really were for the first time. I know this is something that is hard to see through the false visions Anorexia gives. But I can recall the exact moment that I decided I didn�t have to be this skinny; skinny to the point where I was shivering every minute, always cold, when I had, in previous years, bragged about being �warm-blooded� when others would grab for their jackets. This was not attractive. Something told me that I could eat something I was in the mood for and not gain any weight or be obligated to rush home to do my usual 500 stomach crunches that night. That scoop of chocolate ice cream was not going to make or break me. This is something that�s hard to understand at first when dealing with an eating disorder, but the realization can only come from within. No matter how much pleading anyone does with you to eat or how much counseling you receive, it�s up to you to believe those people that can view things in true light.

Eating disorders can arise from anything stressful that�s going on in your life and it�s important to share with someone how you�re feeling, as typical as that sounds. Don�t be afraid to talk about it and finally see your real reflection in the mirror.

-Ali

Self Esteem

noreply@blogger.com (Suzanne) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:30:00 +0000

Many Americans today degrade the importance of self esteem. For example, my first period math teacher continually ridicules his colleagues for endorsing self confidence among students. He, like many other middle aged men of his time, believes self esteem is overrated. However, as eating disorders, self mutilation and depression have become everyday troubles for many teens, it is evident that self esteem (or lack thereof) can be extremely harmful to the developmental stages in a woman's life.

So what is the key to gaining this essential thing labeled "self esteem"? My advice would be to focus on the wonderful things about you. If you look all the way back into Newton's laws, you will find that everything has an equilibrant. Each person on earth is good at something but has an impediment balancing them out. Why focus on that downfall?
I like to consider myself a relatively confident young woman, not depending on the approval of others to get by, but even I am affected by rude comments or dirty looks from my peers. While society doesn't want you to be that overly confident girl, who is often dubbed cocky, you certainly can't be a conformist or a self loathing woman. So where is the medium, if there even is one?

The Lunch Room Chat

noreply@blogger.com (Suzanne) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:44:00 +0000

L. says "I'm such a fat a--, this is my sixth Oreo." S. says "I look obese today." And I say, "I'm so stressed today, I'm going to binge." These are excerpts from conversations that I hear everyday at school. My friends and I do not necessarily have eating disorders, we just think about food, weight, and our bodies all the time.

Being concerned about your body or weight is just part of being a teenager. It is difficult to feel free from some type of food or body conflict. If you are thin, you want to be thinner. If you are "normal" weight (if there is such a thing), you cannot feel good because you should lose weight to be super skinny and if you are overweight�you think you are obese and disgusting.

Is it our parents raising us to be so uncomfortable with ourselves? Is it the media and TV? We watch America's Next Top Model and we see these girls that are so skinny and they represent what America wants as a supermodel. AAAAhhhh!!!! It gets me crazy. I just want to be okay with who I am both on the inside and the outside. My genetics make me 5 feet 2 inches tall. My genetics make my eyes hazel and my hair dirty blonde. I accept all that and even like it at times but can I accept the body type and weight my genetics cause?? Can we, as teenagers, ever feel okay just being us?