3 TIPS TO HELP BUILD A POSITIVE BODY IMAGE (TEENS)

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 WE ALL HAVE ISSUES 

I am SKINNY! And I have body issues too. We all have had a moment, where we stepped in front of the mirror and tucked our stomach in or protruded our butt just to envision how our perfect body would look like.


I feel like when anyone speaks of not having a positive body image, we naturally think of a “fat” ( if that should even be a word) person wanting to be skinny. But today, I want to talk about the opposite.



Growing up as a black girl, I lived in a community where the majority of the women were thick with beautiful curves. Being among the few who just wasn’t built like that, I was constantly made fun of. For having lanky legs and being compared to a stick.

This triggered a lot of insecurity and wanting to alter myself. At first I didn’t think anything of it, but all of a sudden, I started to think that nothing fit right, my butt should be a little bigger or I needed to put on a little weight ( maybe that would help my lemon looking breasts). I started feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.



I cannot pinpoint when things started getting better. But I can tell you it took a lot of time, patience and refining myself. Here are a few tips that helped me build a positive body image.


Try to identify the source of your issue

For me, my body image issues were coming from my own community and what they expected me to look like. But we can all attest to the fact that in this day and age, the main source of body image issues is social media. Identifying the source really helps us to know what we can do and not do, to think better of ourselves.



Surround yourself with positive people 

If I didn’t have people constantly telling me that I needed to be thick to be beautiful, I would never have thought that there was something wrong with me. We have to surround ourselves with people who help us accept us for who we are (as cliche as that might sound) and will compliment us for our many good features.


There’s nothing like the perfect body

This is the literal truth. Knowing that there is nothing like a perfect body helps us understand, that everyone at some point in their life, will not like how they look. It is up to us to accept our body for how beautiful it is and for the amazing things that it can do. That person that you want to look like probably has someone that she also wants to look like. Comparison can do lots of harm.


The road to building a positive body image isn’t an easy one (that I can assure you). But getting to a place where you love your body will be worth it. Life becomes a whole lot better and happier when you love your body.


Thank you for visiting Très Jean and until our next rendezvous, it’s been a pleasure.


Jean👊🏾✌🏾

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