Loving your body during COVID

Original Title: “Loving your body during COVID-19: stop worrying about the ‘corona kilos’!”

Savleen Batra

With the blast of lockdown-friendly home exercise programmes and advice, it may seem as like it’s never been easier to work out at home. The reality, however, is that it’s never been harder. With social media and all the memes coming out from COVID-19, many people think of COVID-19 as a metabolic condition, not a deadly virus. “So, you’ve gained weight,” Elyse Resch, a nutrition therapist said. “So what? You’re alive. We’re just doing the best that we can with the resources we have.”

Of course, this is not to say your health is not important or that it’s okay to indulge in unhealthy practices. Health is important, but we are in the middle of a global pandemic and you can struggle if you press really harshly on achieving your health goals right now.

Too many people across the world are dying, losing their homes and their jobs. If you manage to get out of this pandemic with just a few extra kilos, you are incredibly lucky. Sometimes, changing what you look like does not really heal you, it does not change your body image but the way you look at your body does.

As Conn, an accredited practicing dietitian and health coach, argues, “It’s detrimental to our mental health if we feel guilty simply because we don’t work out every single day. But chances are feeling bad about bingeing on Tim Tams won’t change anything. Instead, look ahead and think about what you can do to make yourself feel good and how you can look after yourself.” As a university student I really understand the stress and pressure some of us have to go through. If you haven’t already realised, it’s hard being ‘perfect’ – getting those grades, being active, hanging out with friends and so on. Sometimes, by doing these things we ignore what is most important to us – OUR MENTAL WELLBEING. It’s taken me a while to realise this, and I have listed some of the ways to cope up with this whole ‘corona kilos’ situation.

First of all, unfollow/mute people, products or services that make you feel horrible about yourself. Have integrity with what you ingest in with your soul, mind and body and follow body diverse accounts instead!

This is like exposure therapy – by seeing people with different bodies and weights embracing themselves and enjoying their body, you will change your perspective towards your own body. Put simply, if they can, then so can you. One reason why we (falsely) believe there is a certain ideal type of body is, of course, media, news, movies and so on. This is why it’s really important to start exposing yourself to different bodies and representation that really matter for us. So, start today to deprogram yourself by exposing yourself to a more diverse group of people.

Second, always show gratitude for the parts of your body that you really like. Instead of standing and hating your, for the lack of a better word, ‘less-than-ideal’ parts, show gratitude to your best body parts and divert your attention. Be grateful of being alive and talk or vent to someone you trust. Speak it to release it. Reach out for help. So many of us may think ‘I can handle it’, or ‘I am not sick enough to get help’, but if you are struggling, let this be a sign. Reach out to your friends, family and professionals to talk it all out.

Third, engage in an activity you love that brings you joy. For some people, it may be exercising. For others, it may be something else. Do things that get you out and into your body. Something you love. Don’t punish yourself by all those hardcore routines. Just make sure to move your body with what you love and if you still struggling, try learning more about the issues with the diet culture and weight discrimination. This will help you to understand that your body is not a problem, but really it’s our society and our culture. The problem is out there and not in you. No, it’s not your body.

The one thing that has always worked for me is repeating affirmation. This helps to rewire your brain because I believe your body hears everything you say. Repeat after yourself and you will start to realise and believe that you are more than your body and your weight is probably the least interesting thing about you.

If this does not help, make sure you remember or make a list of everything your body enables you to do; it helps you eat delicious food; it helps you dance, it helps you travel and allow you to things that make you happy. If this still doesn’t help, try to make a list of all the things that have nothing to do with what you look like – you are a good friend, a hardworking student, you are great at sports, YOU ARE YOU.

Stop being hard on yourself and stop punishing yourself. Put the energy you have into something more productive rather than thinking and stressing out about your body. Importantly, Suman Ambwani, associate professor of Psychology at Dickinson College, found in a study a couple of years ago that ‘people who reject appearance-related self-worth and the thin ideals are consistently seen as more likable than those who just collude with body-shaming.

I may not know you in person, but if you’ve made it to the end of this article – you are resilient, strong and capable. Know that your body is beautiful and that COVID-19 will eventually pass too, we are all in this together.