Body Image

[KABOSH ace]

"Love yourself for who you are" applies to those who have the endomorph body type:

Quote:

Endomorph

* Soft Body
* Underdeveloped Muscles
* Round Physique
* Weight Loss is Difficult
* Gains Muscle Easily Like the Mesomorph.

Because some people are just born with extra plushiness; it's not something they can lose. (Unless they starve themselves...)

Right now, the ectomorph body type is all the rage, but nobody can help whether they're that size or not.

If you are healthy, then it doesn't matter whether you're fat or skinny; that's just your body type. People tend to get body types and health confused.

Some people are supposed to be slender or muscle-y, but eat so badly that they're fat. =/ In THAT case, yes, you should hit the gym and count your calories.

[Chibi Nanchy]

I think you are right in your thinking that you should not do exercise and diet to fulfill a stereotype. But, diet and exercise (if done the healthy way) is absolutely CRUCIAL for achiving and mantaining good health.

If to diet and exercise lost all meaning to you because you realized that current body image is a result of computer-altered commercialism, then I applause you. 3nodding

Now you have to give it another meaning, and that is health. Inactivity and eating whatever is not good for your health, so youre in an excelent track right now. You can find motivation in numerous places, if you need any help with this, feel free to write to me! mrgreen

[Fingili]

My body image is horrible. X_____x
I am overweight. I am 165 lbs at 5'5''- 5'6''. And I'm 17.
I have struggled with mah image for a long time but I am healthy and active. (I go to the gym every other day, don't eat junk food or fast food, etc)
I've lost a lot of weight and people say I look good but I just keep wanting to loose more and more until I reach abot 130-40.
This self image has kept me from doing stuff but I hope to overcome it...it gets in the way of a lot of things.. v____v;;;;
And if you want to loose weight, do it the HEALTHY way. ^____^

[Famous Sin]

In my point of view, as long as you are healthy and taking care of yourself, you ARE beautiful. Its okay to take off a few pounds, work out and have a healthy lifestyle. But if you start busting your butt at the gym, watching the calories and thinking you are not beautiful, then it becomes bad...

[Brackenfae]

Your motivations are your own, and determined by what your psychology is.

Do you measure your health by your weight? If so, and the way you're doing this makes sense, then your efforts aren't in vain.

Eating is an important issue for everyone. The quality of one's life can be changed dramatically and subtly by finding the right diet and, generally speaking, the diet of the average american is horrible... there is so much garbage out there, why do that to yourself?

Exercising is good for you, you shouldn't stop it... HOW MUCH you exercise is a matter which goes back to your motivations.

Understanding your needs and the reasons for what you do in your life is up to you, and something you should do on your own terms. If you have problems understanding yourself and stick to routines which you do not yourself to understand or trust someone else advising it for you (which isn't as good as understanding it yourself!) then your worries are bigger than whether or not you are exercising too much and you should more seriously examine your priorities in life and what pressures you are surrounded by.

Blitzkrieg's advice, as usual, is very good. Perhaps it applies in your case if you are questioning your self-esteem... your mentioning obsessiveness leads me more to question the basis of your decision making processes and how clearly you are perceiving your needs and where you are getting your goals and habits from.

If you are reacting to peer pressure here then it may not be so much an issue of how much self-esteem you have, but more so how you find yourself relating to your surroundings. If you value yourself on account of how well you accomplish superficial things, then you could perhaps assert other strengths and find strength from the resulting identity you may forge from that.