Teenage body complexes
Mirror, mirror on the wall, why am I the ugliest of them all? You're not the only teenage girl to feel a complex about your changing body, many do.
© Jupiter
At puberty, your body is transformed within a few months. This stage between childhood and adulthood is often even more difficult given that the changes are uncontrolled and irreversible. You may feel complexed as sometimes the result isn't necessarily what you hoped for: while your body hasn't yet reached its adult proportions, puberty often means weight gain, rapid growth of legs compared to breasts, or the apparition of problems like acne.
If only it were just the mirror reflecting this awful image! Alas no! Magazines and television seem to confirm what you think: you're just an ugly duckling in a world of swans! Sometimes looking in the mirror becomes torture! Nevertheless, you'll have to accept these changes to make peace with your new body.
Weight, a new teen enemy?
The extra kilos gained during puberty should encourage you to stop eating any old thing and snacking between meals - in short, encourage you to adopt new eating habits.
Some young girls, in the belief that they're condemned to be fat all their lives, start to eat compulsively, unable to control themselves: giving in to bulimia isn't the answer to the difficulties of adolescence. To get your self-confidence back, you're better off expressing your feelings about how your body is changing with words.
Other teenage girls - or even the same ones, alternating between the two types of behaviour - can't stand the idea of having a grown-up body, like their mother, and refuse their femininity. Under the pretext of dieting, they start to eat less and less and may become anorexic: believing that they can control their bodies in this way, by preventing their bodies from existing. This attitude makes the young girl have to constantly hide things from her family and friends who feel guilty and very upset. The wellbeing she feels at the time by not needing to eat can sometimes has irreversible physical consequences, which may even require hospitalisation and psychotherapy.
No complexes: just love yourself
In reality, the situation isn't as dramatic as you think: the difficulty is adapting to your new body, knowing how to "wear it" elegantly, like you wear clothes: your centre of gravity has moved and, with growing breasts, you feel heavier. Like a comedian who pretends to be obese, walking around with his bottom sticking out, stomach sticking out, you see your figure as something deformed. Because you don't like yourself, you think others don't find you attractive either.
"Live" your body
Puberty is like a second birth. Once you've realised that this new body is yours for keeps and not just for a visit, you'll start enjoying looking after it and making it look good. You look chubby in your old clothes? It's up to you now to find shapes and colours that suit your new curves! Learn to walk again! Don't just crash out on a sofa! And soon you'll see: this body that may seem monstrous now will become an object of pleasure and enjoyment!
Copyright © 2010 Doctissimo
Posted 30.06.2010
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