Body image can be a very real and difficult struggle for anyone regardless of how we look.
Hollywood and the fashion industry have long been called out for their promotion of unrealistic beauty standards, but in the age of social media, the pressure to be “perfect” can be overwhelming from all directions.
Instagrammer Louise Aubery has chosen her own direction, baring her soul and her cellulite to highlight the difference between what we see and what is real in the struggle for perfection.
She captioned the side-by-side photos:
« You cannot understand, you have a perfect body ». Yes, I workout. Yes, I eat healthy. No, I do not have a perfect body. And you know why ? Because I stopped looking for it. When I started working out, I had these crazy expectations on the body I hoped / wanted to get. Finally, I will get a thigh gap, a flat stomach, and no more cellulite !! Because that’s how a healthy body is perceived. Because people make you think is it not normal to have it. But you know what ? It is. Yes, I still store fat on my stomach. Yes, I still have cellulite. And yes, I am still « healthy ». Remember one thing : your body is NOT the enemy ?
Aubery is a 20-year-old student from the U.K. who is living in Paris. Like many, she used to obsess about her weight and, after struggling and starving herself, she finally achieved her fitness goal. The only problem was that she still wasn’t happy.
When you achieve the body you want, and you realize it doesn’t make you any happier, you realize there is so much more that comes into play — like truly accepting your body.
In a body-obsessed culture, Aubery points out that the idealized body images we see are often one bad angle away from being far less flattering. It’s the other side of “perfect” that we don’t get to see.
I get that we all want to show ourselves in the best light but I feel like it’s necessary to show the ‘normal’ and even ‘bad’ light to help deconstruct the unreachable standards that have been set by social media.
And her followers appreciate how she’s keeping it real:
Check out some of Aubery’s other Instagram posts:
Aubrey’s current fitness goals focus on one philosophy: “Shift your perspective.”
Aubrey now embraces fulfillment over fasting. She believes that exercise and a healthy diet are also keys to success but she points out that “pizza isn’t the devil.”
Whether it’s a selfie or a mindset, for Aubrey it’s all about perspective. Happiness came when she stopped worrying about her weight and started caring about her well-being.
H/T: Cosmo
