Recently, I have been posting to my Instagram’s about Teami Blends. I have posted about my 30 Day Detox challenge experiences and product release type things. Today, I finally worked up the courage to post my Teami 30 Day Detox progress photos from my first one back in April. I initially chose to do the detox for a couple of reasons. The first reason being so that if someone came and asked me what the detox is and how it works, I could hopefully give a decent answer. The second reason I did this was to help rid my body of the toxins that accumulate in our bodies over the course of many years. I never chose to do it to lose weight. In fact, when I did my first one, I just told myself if I lose weight then it is just an added bonus! Typically, I think when people hear “detox” they immediately associate it with losing weight. Now, while that can be the case, it can also mean simply ridding your body of toxins. I am curious though, when people hear about these things, does that then affect people’s perception of their own body image?
I feel as though in today’s society people are made to feel like they have to have a perfect body. There is an over stimulation if you will, on how you should and shouldn’t look. Due to this, a lot of insecurity is built in some girls and women, and even men. Yes, I said men. Don’t be fooled. Men have insecurities too; you just don’t hear about them as much in the media as you do women. Because of this, I feel like that could be partly why it seems that women more so than men do detoxes. However, there are men who do detoxes and enjoy doing them, which is great! I think body image has become something that has been made to be a big deal over the years. It seems as though people are trying now to make it less of a big deal. They seem to be trying to start to be more accepting of all body types, rather than your typical body shape and size stereotypes. Examples may include, you have to be super slim for women, or you need to be slim, fit, and muscular for men. I think it is very important to encourage others to love their bodies just as they are. It really is so important. Feeling comfortable in your own skin I think goes hand in hand with learning to love and appreciate yourself for who you are. You need to love yourself, and your body before anyone else can love you, and before you yourself can love someone else. My journey to learning to love myself has been quite the journey, and I too have struggled with my body image. For more than one reason, but let me tell you about one of my own struggles with my body more geared toward weight gain, and weight loss.
When I was younger, I had to try out several medications to figure out which one would work best for helping to keep my epilepsy under control. There was one I was on for a while, and it caused my hair to fall out, plus, it also caused me to not really gain any weight or grow very much. At least, I am pretty sure that is why that happened. There was a long period of time where I consistently weighed between 54-56 pounds. I was tiny! Fast forward a few years, I eventually ended up finally growing and getting a healthy weight gain! Woohoo! That is after switching to a different medicine. Weight wise from then on for a while I didn’t have any more issues that I can recall. About 5 or 6 years ago now, I had a test done that diagnosed me with a condition known as Dysautonomia. Following this diagnosis, I got prescribed two medications. I took these for a bit, and they didn’t really seem to help me. One of the medications, I am not sure which one, caused me to need to eat a lot. I would eat a meal and be full, and ten to fifteen minutes or so later, I would need to eat again. Due to that, I ended up gaining between twenty to thirty pounds in weight. I tried to walk as much as I could, and ride my bike, to lose it. None of that was helping me lose weight. Eventually, I got told to stop taking them. As soon as I stopped taking them, the weight started to drop off! The only part that did not fully drop off, was some of the fat cells that had accumulated. I have more so recently come to terms with accepting it and actually appreciating it. There was a while though, where I was very insecure about it. So insecure about it, that I did not have the confidence to wear different types of clothes. That should not have been the case, but it was. I was so scared to wear different things out of fear of being judged because of the way my stomach and weight had changed. We need to find ways to be able to accept our bodies for what they are and for what they’re capable of. We are all so beautiful and unique in our own ways! Embrace yourself, your body, mind, and soul in whatever and whoever you are! Only YOU know who YOU are, so don’t allow yourself to get down about what your body does or does not look like. You are already so perfect in your own way!
Always remember that, "Your weight, body, and appearance do not define who you are as a person." -Megan Tabor
Best Regards,
The Inspiring Hummingbird!