I was 14 years old when I first learned about cellulite. The word hadn’t even come through my brain registry until then. I didn’t realize how big of an issue this “cellulite” would be to as I grew older.
My friend, (we will call her B) & I were sitting outside, in the heat of summer trying to get our tan. Out of nowhere B said “I feel so gross, look how awful my thighs look with all of this cellulite.” I didn’t even know what that word was! HOW CRAZY!
Naive me just looked at her and thought to myself “this girl is one of the prettiest women I have seen and she thinks her legs look bad because of those dimples on the back?” It was WILD. I was shocked. I instantly thought she must know what she is talking about because she’s older. But that wasn’t the case. Little did I know that this entire body image subject we had come upon would completely change my views of myself for years to come..
Summer before sophomore year was ROUGH. I started pinpointing that cellulite stuff all over me. I had never felt so small. I didn’t want to wear a swimming suit or go hangout with any friends because I thought they would think my body was gross and that they couldn’t be friends with me anymore. What a silly thought I had! Because I had cellulite and a small tummy pouch I really thought my friends wouldn’t be friends with me anymore!?
We should be embracing and celebrating cellulite with our teens! GO YOU FOR GOING THROUGH PUBERTY! Let’s be honest, puberty is a whirlwind anyway and we all deserve a pat on the back. Because of one small sentence from a friend, my whole life was changed. That one small negative body image sentence sent me into such a fit in my own brain that I started to not recognize myself. If I could go back to 14-15 year old me and hug her, tell her she’s beautiful and no matter what happens in the next chapters of life, it doesn’t define her! But I guess that wouldn’t make me, me.
I started developing these weird stretch marks all along the tops of my breasts around this time too. I didn’t think anything of it other than OH HEY! I’ve hit the jack pot and started getting big boobs! (Every teenage girls dream right?! Ha!) It turns out a few other girls my age were starting to develop Breast stretch marks too. It was then that I realized these weren’t a blessing and people actually thought they were gross.
So, I did what any typical 15 year old girl would do.. asked my friends. BAD IDEA. The advice I got was
“you need to start working out more to lift your boobs up higher so they wont stretch as bad and you wont get anymore marks.” That was so not the response I was looking for.
How wrong we are to not teach our girls proper anatomy and to tell them that stretch marks and cellulite on their constantly growing bodies is NORMAL AND OKAY! We have opened up a society full of young women that don’t realize all of these “problems” are a normal part of growing. Instead of telling our teens “you’re getting chunky here“ or pointing out their imperfections, point out that it’s awesome to have a little jiggle here and there too, because it gives your body character! It’s not fair for our children to grow up thinking that their high school bodies won’t change or that having a curve and wide hips is a bad thing. I can’t tell you how many times, before this journey of course, that I wished I had my high school body back. But why? Because that’s what I grew up thinking is the only acceptable body in society.
It’s not.
Your body is fire.
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