Today I celebrated International Women’s Day in a very interesting way, literally in my underwear in front of a room of strangers.
As part of GRITYARD’s Women’s Day event, Rock The Naked Truth and sloggi had a self-confidence segment where 5 of us (in the latest sloggi GO Allround) talked to the audience about our struggles with our body and how we overcame them. This is the second time RTNT is working with sloggi and I am so grateful for brands like these who believe in the message I’m pushing out.
It’s not easy to strip down to our underwear in front of strangers and bare our souls about our insecurities, but I am so proud of these four beautiful ladies for being brave and doing this with me.
I hope those who came today took home valuable learnings from our stories. I understand how hard it can be to love our bodies but it is not impossible.
It was so tough getting out of that dark place – where I hated myself, hated how I looked, did everything I could just to be skinny, inflicted self-harm to punish myself and constantly felt inadequate – and I wish no one has to go through what I did.
Your body is yours to live in for all your life. It is the longest and most permanent relationship you will have in this lifetime, so build a strong and healthy relationship with your body.
Go on and discover how amazing your body is, and how capable it actually is. We come in different shapes and sizes, and that’s what makes each of us unique and special.
Just be YOU.
P.S. Each of us is wearing the new sloggi GO Allround range that only comes in ONE size. The material is stretchable and adaptable, to fit your body regardless of what shape you are. How cool is that!
Our body is not on point all the time, just like how life isn’t 100% all the time. These are the exact times where you have to love yourself and trust in yourself more.
She said: “In 2014, I made a commitment within a document called a ‘declaration of excellence’. My vision was to encourage those around me to pursue their dreams and support them. One of the things I chose to focus on to get there was reducing my body fat percentage to inspire those around me to make a difference to their bodies. I failed to achieve my goal then because I focused on the wrong metrics without realising it didn’t truly reflect my Why.
The reality is that I didn’t face my real fears, of not being able to control the changes my body would go through as I grew older and fearing that my success in my weight and fat loss is the only thing I would be valued for.
I told myself I wanted to be a courageous, strong and open woman. Now reflecting back, I was going through a process to learn what I know now and master switching on this part of myself that involves failing and losing control. I’ve learnt that all this doesn’t make me less of the woman I am, but more of the woman I’m continuing to become.
Today, I know that I am 100% the courageous, strong and open woman I wanted to be back in 2014 and I didn’t need success, I needed to tell bravely stories of my failure.
I didn’t bother starving myself or excessively exercising before the event because just being myself – courageous, strong and open – while managing that fear of shame and not being enough, is my best way of sharing my value as a human being to the people around me.
This means I must let myself be uncomfortable sometimes. What matters is what I focus on. Not the lines, cellulite and lumpy bits, but on the power and courage of my vulnerability that can be a force in this world. The beauty is you don’t have to do what I do to be powerful. You just have to do you.”
She struggled with bulimia for a large part of her life, hiding it from others. Her body image struggles exacerbated when she got into a toxic relationship and was constantly put down by her ex.
Today, she has found a balance in life, leads an active lifestyle and is getting married to the love of her life soon!
Rebecca shared, “I’ve always been a sporty person – playing heaps of team sports through school and university, getting into HIIT and CrossFit later. I have never been super skinny but always in control of my body and always strong and (relatively) fit.
After falling pregnant with my first child, it was really a period of self reflection and learning to accept my body for what it was doing – growing a baby – rather than how much weight I could lift or how far I could run!
It certainly wasn’t easy though. Putting on weight, losing energy and not being able to be as active as I was used to was a difficult thing to come to terms with.
We are bombarded with images of the ‘perfect’ body all the time, and the same even exists when it comes to pregnancy – maternity models who seemingly don’t put on any weight anywhere except for a tiny little bump and all of sudden I was judging my pregnant body against those yardsticks! It was certainly a rollercoaster of emotions.
As my pregnancy progressed, I learnt a few things. Firstly, I could still stay quite active! I was lucky to get very little morning sickness and so kept up my usual exercise routines throughout my pregnancy. I was buoyed by many amazing women around me who gave me plenty of encouragement as my belly grew.
Secondly, I learned to better appreciate what my body was really doing and focus on the end goal: my wonderful baby girl.
Finally, after the baby arrived (and I had recovered from the fog of the newborn months), I had to learn how to balance spending time with my baby, getting the exercise that I need to stay both mentally and physically fit, and ultimately setting a good example for her and other young mums around me. I wouldn’t say that I am fully ‘body confident’ yet, and who knows if I ever will be, but I’ve come a long way over the last few years!
During her acting days, Joey Feng was constantly told that she needed to lose weight and that she was not skinny enough. It was really hard because look at her, where else can she lose anymore weight from?
I get that the camera piles on the kilos and makes you look bigger, but my goodness, the pressure that they are under!
Joey has left the media industry and is now a spinning instructor, on top of running her own indoor air environmental company! Another problem she faces is gaining muscle mass. See ladies, fit is the new sexy.
Build a fitness regime and stick to it! Nothing comes overnight and you need to work for it.
