"I feel like a piggy - OINK!" one of my friends joked as she wolfed down her favorite food.
Girls are fighting the ever-constant battle of fad diets and body-image problems. If a girl eats as much food a boy in one sitting, she is frowned upon although she may be at a healthy weight and frequently exercise. When people chastise her for eating too much, she becomes anxious about how she presents herself to other people, causing her to lose self-confidence.
Every single day, girls obsessively worry about their appearances. Looking into the mirror, a girl will see bad-hair day after bad-hair day, the latest pimple and thighs in desperate need of more time at the gym. Though the mirror doesn't add 10 extra pounds like cameras, the conscience can add pounds upon pounds, making girls feel worthless and fat.
Not once does the girl find anything positive about her; it's only negative characteristics she sees looking back at her: baggy eyes, frizzy hair and that arm flab that doesn't seem to go away no matter how many weights she lifts.
If the girl sees a useless person sadly looking back in the mirror, the typical outsider sees a normal and healthy-looking girl. If only the girl could see herself through the onlooker's eyes and not her own, she would have self-confidence and accept herself for who she is. Girls have the ability to be their own worst enemy and toughest critic.
Some girls will not believe others who say they are great the way they are. Girls never take the advice of others when it comes to body image since they only focus on their own self-image.
Girls need to realize there is no perfect size or body. Some people will never be a size four, and others will not have the perfect sixpack on their stomachs. I know people want to have these things, sometimes no matter how hard we try, we may be physically unable to change our bodies. It's best to accept and accessorize what we have.
The sad thing is that most girls cannot eat as much as they want or dress how they feel because they are too concerned how people will view them. The girls become too obsessed with body image, so they continually try to lose five more pounds with dozens of diets.
I am not a firm believer in diets like Atkins, a low-carbohydrate diet, or the South Beach, a low-fat diet. Each diet has some restriction: low carbohydrates, low sugar, low fat or all fruits and vegetables. I like food, and I'm not afraid of carbohydrates or sugar.
People need a balanced diet, not one that cuts and crosses out certain foods groups. We need sugar so our insulin levels do not become too low and carbohydrates for energy. If one area of nutrition is lacking, then the body will not function well as a whole.
Each food group is important - yes, even the fatty, sugary food. It's important to eat fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein and meat, but it is important to have some fatty foods, in moderation, as well. Not only because your body needs some healthy fat, but because some fatty foods do taste good.
My favorite fatty foods are peanut butter and snickerdoodles. I don't have these foods all day, every day, but once in a while I will eat a spoonful of peanut butter or make the cookies because they taste good. I'm not afraid for people to know I don't eat salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or I do not get full eating one carrot stick. I do eat in moderation, but there are some times I splurge on another slice of pizza or some cookie dough - there is nothing wrong with the occasional and spontaneous midnight craving.
If girls could learn to accept themselves as they are and not constantly worry about food, self-confidence will boost and body-image problems will slowly vanish. Still, it's that step of acceptance and not looking in the mirror that is the hardest part. I know it's cliché, but look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you are great and it's okay to have your cake and eat it, too.
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