She Did it Again: When Britney Hurts My Body Image

Yesterday I was in the checkout line, hiding unwashed hair beneath my baseball cap, pretending that I was not reading the current gossip magazines… But I just couldn’t help myself when I saw the “BREAKING NEWS!”

Yep… Britney Spears got her body back.

No more crazy-rock-bottom-shaved-head-Disney-star-gone-wild Britney. Now, it is the HIT-ME-BABY-ONE-MORE-TIME-I-can-rock-a-slightly-inappropriate-schoolgirl-midriff-after-having-kids Britney!

I am happy for Britney. She worked hard to get those abs!

But when I saw this article, my first reaction was to throw it down on the ground and stomp all over it. I kept my composure, of course, because I am from the south… But I did want to drop kick that article.

It is not fair.

I look at my body in the mirror (after three kids) and it is not “Hit Me One More Time”, it is Discovery Channel goes tribal. Seriously, gravity?

This time of year, when the sun comes out and the clothes come off, there is an added amount of pressure. I hear it in our conversations and through Facebook statuses, and I know it from my own experience. My husband and I are going to Florida for a retreat with other pastors and their wives. However, I don’t feel swimsuit ready, and I’m a health and fitness coach! I feel as though others are going to think I am a fraud because I am not rocking six pack abs (or even a two pack!) or buns of steel. I workout everyday, eat healthy, avoid junk food, and yet, I still have junk in the trunk. I’m disciplined and I still have cellulite. I fear that others will think I’m lazy or that I am secretly eating bags of Doritos instead of the healthy foods that I claim to love.

Be prepared women, because at checkout counters across America, we are going to see hot celebrities who just popped out a baby and are now displaying their awesome abs and buns of steel just one week later! The captions will be in bold font, and they will promise us that if we follow these simple secrets of celebrities, we too can live a happy life. These articles will share helpful workout tips, pills to pop, foods to eat or avoid, and creams to rub.

I workout everyday, eat healthy, avoid junk food, and yet, I still have junk in the trunk. I’m disciplined and I still have cellulite.

I want to share my number one tip for becoming swimsuit ready:

1.) Get real. Celebrities get paid to look amazing. They get paid a ton of money. (Not to mention most of the pictures that we see in magazines have been photoshopped and edited.) With the kind of money they make, they can afford:

A personal trainer who comes into their home
A personal chef who fixes healthy meals
A nanny who watches their kids
The latest spa treatments and massage therapies
Tucks, lifts and injections

I’m not saying that any of these things are wrong. If they have the money without going into debt… Why not have someone help you cook? However… I don’t know about you, but most of us do not have these luxuries!

If our reason behind eating healthy and exercising is that we want to look like a celebrity, then we are going to live in constant frustration because most of us don’t have the time to look like that. Most of us are working a full-time job, running kids everywhere, going to PTA meetings, serving in our community… And the list goes on.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to want six pack abs… I would love it if I woke up one morning and they magically appeared… But I also don’t want to live just for those abs!

Does all of this mean that we should just say “screw it” and burn our yoga pants? Maybe stop exercising and start binging on chocolate chips all day because we aren’t ever going to look like the people in the magazines?

Well… I hope not! I would lose my entire wardrobe!

For me… It is all about priorities. I exercise in order to be the best woman, wife, and mom that I can be. I am a nicer person when I am eating healthy and exercising. I literally sweat out my crazy! When I am taking care of myself, I have energy to take care of my priorities—the things that I love and that are important to me.

So here’s a plan… Let’s make a commitment to stop comparing our bodies to celebrities and photoshopped images! Comparison is the thief of joy! In fact, let’s make a commitment to stop comparing our bodies to other women in general!

Let’s refuse the lie that our worth is found by seeing a specific number on the scale or by fitting into a certain size jeans! Let’s begin to believe the truth that our worth is in the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made! Our bodies are made for so much more than posing, strutting and rocking a bikini!

Find some balance… Muster up some grit and take good care of yourself—get moving and make healthy choices… But also, give yourself some gosh darn grace. You’ve been beautifully and perfectly made for a purpose.

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To read more about the negative effects comparison has on our self-worth and ways to fight it, click on Just Because She’s Pretty, Doesn’t Mean You’re Not, 9 Marks of a Beautiful Woman (On the Inside) and How to Lose the Scale and Walk Lighter.
#gritandgracelife