Junk Food & Being Body Confident.

In the style of Carrie Bradshaw, ‘Can you really eat all of the chocolate buttons you want and be body confident?’

If you asked me a few years ago I would have 100% said yes. However now I’m 26 I’m not so sure, over the last year I’ve put on around a stone. I knew it was happening but I was happy so I didn’t really care, however now it’s been a whole new year and I can’t really ignore it anymore. My weekly (more likely daily) routine of sharing bags is going to have to come to a devastating end. I wish I could sit here and pretend that in 2018 women don’t care about their bodies and they aren’t constantly thinking about what they’re eating (or not eating) next, or that they’re not wishing they had the body of Bella Hadid but I am, so other women must be too.

There’s nothing wrong with my body, I’m not overweight, I'm a 'normal' size and I know I should be grateful that I’m healthy and I have the ability to walk. However now it’s now more than half way through the year I feel more than ever like I need to change the way I look. It’s a lot easier to sit down on the sofa with a bag of caramel nibbles then it is to avoid eating pizza or building up the confidence to take part in some form of exercise.

The constant pressure of seeing people on social media looking amazing all of the time isn’t as easy to ignore people as people to try to say it is. Having a job in social media, PR or marketing means you’re always on your phone and each time you scroll through your feed it feels like you’re having your confidence knocked a little. So many people in my life have gone on social media breaks because of feeling this way.

Despite all of this I know how long it actually it takes to get the “perfect selfie”, in my last photo it took me 24 attempts to get the one I actually ended up posting. I also know that people work really hard to get to get a body like a Victoria’s Secret model, but it doesn’t make it any easier. It’s all a facade and social media isn’t a true reality and we all know it’s much more fun to eat a chocolate cake. But no matter how many times your friends and family say you look great you’re only going to believe it when you truly feel it.

However Jameela Jamil's recent tweet has sort of turned this all around for me. I have nothing against Kim Kardashian but her (now deleted) social media posts supporting appetite suppressor lollipops were pretty stupid, and JJ had something to say about this... "MAYBE don’t take appetite suppressors and eat enough to fuel your BRAIN and work hard and be successful. And to play with your kids. And to have fun with your friends. And to have something to say about your life at the end, other than “I had a flat stomach.” I imagine Kim K wouldn't want her daughter to be worrying so much about the way she looks, so why should we? And like Jameela said, when you're old and grey you won't be thinking about how thin you looked or that your stomach was flat that day. You'll be thinking about how much fun you were having on that summers day, or the time you went to the best party ever. So F*** it, have that beer and bag of kettle chips and lets enjoy life! x