Who remembers the outrage of this advert a couple of weeks ago?
Social media was in a frenzy with girls crying out that this advert was 'body shaming' and that surely every body is 'beach body ready'! I read all these posts and was straight on the band wagon! How dare the advertising bigwigs at Protein World tell me how I should look at the beach? I will go to the beach looking however I want thank you very much.
But then...
I hit the shops looking for bikinis and shorts ready for my upcoming summer in France. I felt like every single thing that showed my thighs or lower abs looked hideous and I left the town centre with a mission to get rid of some thigh jiggle. I read up on clean eating, stocked up my fridge with lean meat and green veg, and resigned myself to the fact that I would probably have to go running if I wanted to make a difference.
It was on my first run that I remembered how outraged I had been at Protein World's advert and how much I had hated them for telling me how to look at the beach. Surely I was now doing the same thing to myself? I started to feel guilty and thought, "I must be able to wear all those bikinis I was trying on without feeling like my thighs were hideous". However, I had now started this new regime and decided I might as well stick to it, even if it was just to make me a bit healthier.
Three weeks later and I feel amazing. I am slowly gaining definition in my thighs as the layer of jiggle is slowly removed to reveal muscles built up from years of dance and yoga. My runs are getting faster, I'm finding it easier to do tough steps in ballet classes and I tried on some shorts the other day and felt confident buying them!
The pang of guilt is still there though. I worry that I'm letting down my fellow ladies by giving into the stereotype of trying to look a certain way. The glossy magazine way. I realise that this is silly and there is nothing wrong with wanting a muscular, healthy body, but I do wish society would just let women be women. I shouldn't feel guilty for wanting to look muscular in a bikini and nor should anyone else feel shamed for having curves or a fuller figure. Renee Somerfield looks gorgeous in that advert and I've seen girls of all shapes and sizes rockin' it on the beach. But hey, if the thought of defined thighs in my shorts over the summer motivates me to go out running when I'd rather stay in bed, then long live vanity!
Social media was in a frenzy with girls crying out that this advert was 'body shaming' and that surely every body is 'beach body ready'! I read all these posts and was straight on the band wagon! How dare the advertising bigwigs at Protein World tell me how I should look at the beach? I will go to the beach looking however I want thank you very much.
But then...
I hit the shops looking for bikinis and shorts ready for my upcoming summer in France. I felt like every single thing that showed my thighs or lower abs looked hideous and I left the town centre with a mission to get rid of some thigh jiggle. I read up on clean eating, stocked up my fridge with lean meat and green veg, and resigned myself to the fact that I would probably have to go running if I wanted to make a difference.
It was on my first run that I remembered how outraged I had been at Protein World's advert and how much I had hated them for telling me how to look at the beach. Surely I was now doing the same thing to myself? I started to feel guilty and thought, "I must be able to wear all those bikinis I was trying on without feeling like my thighs were hideous". However, I had now started this new regime and decided I might as well stick to it, even if it was just to make me a bit healthier.
Three weeks later and I feel amazing. I am slowly gaining definition in my thighs as the layer of jiggle is slowly removed to reveal muscles built up from years of dance and yoga. My runs are getting faster, I'm finding it easier to do tough steps in ballet classes and I tried on some shorts the other day and felt confident buying them!
The pang of guilt is still there though. I worry that I'm letting down my fellow ladies by giving into the stereotype of trying to look a certain way. The glossy magazine way. I realise that this is silly and there is nothing wrong with wanting a muscular, healthy body, but I do wish society would just let women be women. I shouldn't feel guilty for wanting to look muscular in a bikini and nor should anyone else feel shamed for having curves or a fuller figure. Renee Somerfield looks gorgeous in that advert and I've seen girls of all shapes and sizes rockin' it on the beach. But hey, if the thought of defined thighs in my shorts over the summer motivates me to go out running when I'd rather stay in bed, then long live vanity!
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