Health Comes In All Sizes…

There is no ideal body. Beauty is about being healthy and about accepting our bodies.

- Shobs

I had never thought of my body. I was healthy. A medium frame by birth.

But then I got ill and apparently lost a lot of weight.

When I got out of the hospital, people reacted to my physique differently.

One of them said, “You have lost 4 inches around your hip”. Another one commented “You have slimmed down” and not to leave behind the other side of comments, someone else said, “I wish my body looked like yours”.

I was surprised by people’s comments and wondered how much we focus on our looks.

I realized when a person is struggling with negative body image, focusing on changes in weight can reinforce a harmful belief that their weight is the most important thing about them.

I asked a friend, “Why do you think I look good?” Pat came to the reply, “Because you are skinny”.

Well, skinny doesn't suit everyone! This isn't what I am supposed to look like when I am healthy. I wasn't feeling healthy from within.

When I lost weight out of sickness, I was finding it difficult to eat all kinds of food. My concentration was comparatively lesser.

I remember reading that the skeletal weight is most rapid during the adolescent's growth spurt. About 45% of the adult skeletal mass is formed during adolescence, although the growth continues well beyond adolescence and into the third decade. Activities such as cycling, gymnastics, skating, ball games, dancing and supervised weight training for at least 30-60 minutes a day, three to five times a week, can help build bone mass and density.