By: Gaurika Sharma

Edited by: Namitha

“Too fat", “Too skinny", what's the ideal body shape? Does an ideal body shape exist? To satisfy my hunger, I Googled it and got an answer too! For women it is the hourglass shape and for men it is the inverted pyramid. So according to Google, an ideal body type does exist. But in reality, should it? The answer is NO, of course not. Every body is unique by its shape, colour and size, regardless of the gender. Two bodies should not be compared, because every body is special in its own way. Some people may not have the “ideal" body shape and are shunned because of their appearance.

Fat shaming is when people are criticized about their weight or eating habits. This makes them feel ashamed of themselves. They become conscious about their appearance. Many consider them as just fat, not beautiful. People talk about them obscurely and make fun of them. Now, if this happened to you, how would all this make you feel? Discouraged, demotivated and unhappy.

With respect to people who are overweight, they may be determined to change how they look, to completely change themselves. Some may opt for the slow but effective route, and that is exercising and maintaining a healthy diet. But some may opt for fast but unhealthy methods such as crash dieting.

Crash diet is a very low-calorie diet that includes semi starvation. By the description itself one realizes that this diet is actually a “no entry zone”, but some people want to lose weight quickly and see immediate results, thus, adopting this ruinous plan for aid. Crash dieting is not a solution for losing weight. In fact, it will worsen one’s health. Losing weight too quickly may lead to fatigue, nutritional deficiencies, dizziness and can result in constant feeling of hunger.

If one really wants to lose weight, the best method is the slow and consistent one. Exercising regularly, taking break days in between and maintaining a healthy diet, is the way to go! This way one will not only lose weight, but also strengthen their muscles and become stronger. Results may be slow, but the overall development and self-progress will make them feel good about themselves.

Being overweight leads to many health issues and as a preventive measure, doctors recommend regular exercise and healthy diet. Some people are overweight because of their lifestyle, while some are because of medical conditions. These conditions make it hard for them to lose weight. In such cases, how much ever one tries, the numbers may or may not change and there is nothing more they can do, and that’s really okay.

There is another type of body shaming which is often overlooked, and that is being skinny shamed. Skinny shaming is criticizing someone for how thin they look. The “ideal" body type has convinced society that the goal is to be the ideal figure no matter what, but shouldn’t the goal be to live healthy? Many people think it’s okay to be skinny shamed because being skinny is several peoples dream, so shouldn’t skinny people be okay with being skinny shamed? No, of course not. It is assumed that it all comes easy to such people, but actually, they struggle to gain weight. Some may not have any disorder or health issue; they are just skinny. It is believed that thin people starve themselves, so suggestions such like “eat a burger" or “have some meat" are given. Such unwanted opinions are given because, they believe eating fatty food will help someone gain weight, which a popular opinion. But don’t you think they would have previously tried this to gain weight? Or the possibility that they don’t want to gain weight?

All this criticism may make the criticizers feel that they have done a good deed by giving their so called “advice" to people, but in reality, they ended up sparking a feeling of dislike to their body type. This dislike in extreme cases leads to hating oneself. They won’t like the way they look, won’t be comfortable in wearing clothes they really want to or may not even be able to look at themselves in the mirror. This may lead to depression and low self-esteem. Some victims of harsh criticism also have suicidal thoughts.

If you are a criticizer, it is time for you to change. Completely crushing someone else’s self-esteem and making them anxious of their looks, is not something you should be going for. Even if that’s not what you are trying to do, it is the result. Maybe you become a criticizer as a result of pent up frustrations and personal issues, but you can get rid of these feelings without hurting or taunting someone. The result of these taunts in extreme cases, can take a heavy toll on their mental health and can result in adverse consequences. So, becoming self-aware and taking in account of your actions is something you should be doing. Reproach yourselves!

If you are either overweight or thin or someone not happy with how you are, and you want to reduce or increase your weight, do it only and only for yourself and not to impress others, because no matter how hard you try to impress other people, people are sometimes just pedantic.

How many times can you change yourself for others? So, forget them for a second, forget your friends, your family, just forget everyone and ask yourself, “Do I want to change how I look for myself?”, and if the answer is a yes, then get to work! And if it is a no, start looking at yourself differently. Don’t look at yourself from somebody else’s point of view, but look at yourself how you would before you crossed paths with all the taunts and negative comments. Remind yourself of how beautiful and absolutely stunning you are.

The song “Scars to Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara conveys the same message to us. The song is about inner beauty. It tells people that they are beautiful just the way they are and they don’t need to adhere to the “ideal beauty standards”. This song is to inform people who are struggling with their body image that they deserve to love themselves.

Just learn to accept yourself the way you are. Once you accept yourself, you will automatically start loving yourself. All this is easier said than done, but it sure is worth a try! You should try to become the best version of yourself and never change yourself for anyone, but you.