Reason behind lack of body confidence?

Hey Guys!

Hope your all well?

Now I have been seeing a few images circling facebook which just really hit a nerve with me, and decided I wanted to chat about here..

I completely understand men also have problems with body image and body confidence but today I want to talk about women (a male post is coming soon for you lads.)

Source : Facebook.com

This was the image that I saw and it made me actually feel really quite sad.

In the image a girl is stood looking at herself in the mirror and she zips down her side and takes out stuffing from her body then she is seen to be sparkling looking in the mirror of a thinner version of herself.

Source : Google.

Then when researching into more of these types of images for this post I found this post about change.
The character evidently looses weight and is seen to be smiling..

These kind of images ?
They make me feel so angry and sad.
I understand as much as anyone else we aren't always happy with the ways we look but posting images like these just gives drive to these thoughts and all I can think is what age girls are viewing these on social media and thinking they need to change?
 

This image in particular actually made me want to cry..
Back in 2013 I was going through a pretty bad time when it came to my body confidence and I remember feeling just like this image indicates.
I remember looking at my post transplant stomach and hating it, I have been left with excess skin and deep stretch marks all over my body from the fluctuating weight liver failure put me through and I felt disgusting.
The problem was never with my scar as I have always seen my 'shark bite' as my mark of survival as such, but I hated how I looked.



With help I learnt that this wasn't a healthy way to think, and it was a much more rooted issue linked to more emotional things going on in my life at the time.
I am now in a much happier place, but still from time to time struggle and seeing images like these just make me blood boil, images like these just justify how young people may be feeling so they think its okay to have such a distorted image of themselves - yes we all have days where we would probably change how we looked from time to time but to feel like you want to take scissors to your stomach ? that's a whole new extreme that needs to be spoke about.

But then I come round to the one thing that I think is a huge part to play with a lack in body confidence and body image - girls being bitches about other girls.
Now I'm not saying everyone does this, as I know myself I don't but when I see images like the one above it makes me so angry.
Who is one person to judge another?

I have been on both sides of the spectrum,as a young teen I carried a bit of weight then lost it and was just really curvy at the end of school/before transplant and then after transplant lost a ton of weight, so much so had to have a ng tube put in to help me gain weight (an ng tube gives you a liquidised diet through your nose directly to your stomach)

 

Year 7 & Year 11.

 

Before transplant number 3,as you can see the first image my stomach is full of fluid and then my weight plummeted.

 

 

Stomach post transplant.

Here my stomach is very flat but the truth is, I wasn't in good health!

So really what is more important - our figure or our health?

 

Sadly though I was scrutinised and laughed at for being all sizes, but I must say when I was 6 stone due to my transplant people would really stare and make horrible comments but they didn't know WHY I was so thin,proof that we never know why people are the size they are and what they are going through !

 

When I was 6 stone though I didn't realise just how thin I was until I look back now at 10 stone.

This really scares me as it shows just how easy it is to have a distorted self image.

When I was at a healthy weight in year 11 (and currently) I was very body confident, and this showed as I ignored anything negative people had to say.

 

I still struggle with the way I look from time to time, but deep down I know there is nothing at all wrong with the way I look - we are ALL beautiful.

So honestly girls bitching on girls?
Come on what's going on there ladies?
Instead lets reinforce how BEAUTIFUL woman of all sizes are!
Together we can promote a healthy body image :)
So maybe think in future if you are about to scrutinise someone's image, if you have nothing nice to say? Stay quite.

Stay Safe & Speak Soon
Kate
x o x o