I understand that everyone wants to look good in a bikini, I do, who doesn't want a perfectly toned body, peachy bum and beautiful sun-kissed skin? (and don't say not you!) The perfect 'girl next door', Miranda Kerr finesse. I'm not going to lie, I even have a 'thinspiration' board on my Pinterest, where I pin beautiful bronzed babes, in nearly no bikini with perfect abs, because I too have fallen foul of the frenzy. However, the reality is that it's practically impossible.
When spring comes around, the magazines fill with the latest fitness, weight loss, 'beach bod' fad which we consumers lap up every year. However, how many of us actually stick to these wheatgrass, lemon water, juice only diets? None of us. And if you do then its probably for a week, until you snatch candy from a baby - like your natural womanly chocolate craving hormones tell you to! We become a demon to society causing a dramatic decrease in cadbury sales!
The problem is (and this is a problem that will be around forever), the magazines we put on the shelves and the continuous sexualisation of our society. The people on the cover don't even look like that, photoshop is a massive burden on society, models are made flawless, and any possible cellulite or stretch mark is wiped off the page, waists pinched in and a bit of digital lypo to the desired effect. I hope that people already understand this, and I'm just making points that have been made over and over again, but I guess the people that need targeting are not the mum's of two but the teenagers, the pre teen children who idolise Miley Cyrus during her Hannah Montana stage (far away from where she is now), Demi Lovato, who had an eating disorder. Children should realise that these people are miles away from reality, they have stylists, make up artists, personal trainers, things that we can only dream of. The next generation should realise that these people are not normal, and that being like them isn't an achievement, in fact, its sad. Celebrities would agree that the fame and fortune that the children of today dream about isn't as adventurous and as stimulating as its portrayed.
The 'thigh gap' has become a major phenomenon over the past couple of months, with celebrities boasting about theirs on twitter, TOWIE's Maria Fowler uploaded this picture to her twitter account, only 3 months after having liposuction.
And for those of you who don't know what TOWIE is, then its short for The Only Way is Essex, which is a moronic, reality TV programme aimed at people with the mental capacity of a fish. With characters who have had boob jobs, liposuction, lip injections, fake hair, fake nails, fake tan, there is nothing 'real' about this programme. Sorry if you like it but this is just my opinion. No wonder we live in a society full of teenagers obsessed with their appearance, and only crave one thing, "fame".
I don't see the problem with wanting to control what you eat, to have a healthy diet and stay fit by going to the gym. I love working out and do it a lot, but I also love food, and having a body you could bounce a ball off doesn't motivate me, and it shouldn't drive other people too. I also don't have an issue with wanting to tone up for the summer, just to feel more confident when you're walking down the beach, but what I do object to is filling peoples minds with bogus information and plans, to get a perfect set of abs in 60 days (but only if you eat celery and a teaspoon of peanut butter for every meal!)
Here are some photos of before and after photo shoots which get put into the magazines we read and listen to:
(Images from: Mirror)
