How well do you know Your Body!?

I live by myself, cook and eat healthy foods (sometimes indulge in my comfort foods), do my workout routine (lazy days not counted) and feel contented with my body and health. Fast forward to vacation back home. An aunt I don't remember meeting, in the near future says, "Oh! have you put on few pounds?" And she goes on to say "Thin is beautiful. Don’t become fat". And there starts the stream of thoughts questioning every morsel of food I eat, wondering if a sip of water added to my calories.

While that's my story, my friend gets to hear a different version of it. "You should eat more to get some fat beneath your skin. Looks like you would disappear into thin air". She can't help but think to herself "Well I guess I'd rather disappear into thin air then listen to you taunt!"

Two different scenarios, but both come down to one thing; BODY IMAGE. So I wonder, Who set the standards? It's 36 24 36 or 8 packs and 10 packs. We go by the numbers that validate our body and failing to achieve the numbers push us into depression and guess what most of us do,

Eat the stress out.

When I decided to write a blog, the first thought that came to me was to talk about the impractical body-image concept that has been normalized for years. Being a practicing dietitian I have come across many who have come up to me asking for diet charts, not because they want to be healthy but to look like the airbrushed models they see on-screen and magazines. That is when I realized most of us (including me) perceive health, based on how we physically appear and not how healthy we feel. I have come across people who are visibility fit as a fiddle, yet have cholesterol that skyrockets and goes all the way to Mars. No kidding!

So, let me break it to you all.

You do not diet to look sexy, hot and handsome and have a system within that screams “HELP! I need nourishment".

Each person's body is different, and we need to understand that before we run for a size 0 and 10 packs. So that brings me to the million-dollar question -

"How well do we understand our body?"

Some have an Apple shaped body while some Pear-shaped, some Hourglass shaped and some Inverted triangle shaped (Courtesy: Your genes and your parents who generously gave it to you, your hormones and your lifestyle). Not all bodies are the same and hence an ideal body type is out of question. Your body type is something that has a pre-set design and how it turns out, partially depends on how you follow your diet and lifestyle and majorly depends on your genetics and hormones.

The bottom-line? Every individual has a different body and hence their diet will be different too. Understand your body type and set your goals accordingly (Airbrushed look is definitely not the goal).

"The first step to any diet and healthy life style is coming to terms with your own body".

A well-nourished body within is always better than just well-shaped body outside. Set your goals towards a nourished body and then towards an ideal shape that fits your body type the best. More on how to nourish the body, in my upcoming blogs. (Because I hate reading long blogs and I hate typing a lot at once).

As for the nosy next-door aunties and relatives who have made it their life's goal to criticize everyone based on their looks and shape, I am figuring out how to make it stop. If any of you know how, be a good Samaritan and let me know too.

Love your body for the way it is and nourish it well