MemberSPOTLIGHT – “5 Truths About Bodies and Our Expectations For Them” by Emily DeMalto, MS, LPC
Bodies are constantly evolving, responding to shifts in age, hormones, lifestyle, and
environmental factors. It’s natural for your body to adapt and change over time, and
these changes can be viewed as morally neutral, rather than problems to be solved.
Expecting your body to remain exactly the same as it was in the past ignores the
complexity and beauty of growth. Acknowledging that it’s okay for your body to change
creates space for self-acceptance and encourages a more compassionate approach to
self-care and body image.
It’s unrealistic to expect an adult’s body to be the same as when you were a teen.
Our teenage years are often marked by rapid growth and hormonal shifts, which play a
significant role in how our bodies look and function. As we move into adulthood, our
bodies naturally settle into different shapes, sizes, and metabolic rates. Holding onto the
expectation that your adult body should mirror your teenage one can set you up for
frustration and disappointment. Accepting the changes that come with adulthood allows
for more realistic expectations and supports the understanding that your body’s needs
and appearance will shift in positive ways as you age.
Societal glorification and commodification of youth contributes to the desire for women
to maintain a childlike appearance, promoting an unrealistic ideal that values thinness,
smallness, and even immaturity over strength, health, and maturity. The cultural
prioritization of remaining youthful not only ignores the natural and healthy process of
aging but also sends a harmful message that a woman’s value is tied to youth in that
society values a woman not for wisdom, lived experience, intelligence or strength, but
rather prefers someone they can control and retain power over. This can lead to
unhealthy behaviors aimed at preserving a “forever young” body, rather than embracing
the beauty and wisdom that come with aging. Women deserve to grow, change, and
flourish at every stage of life without the pressure to remain in a perpetual state of
youthfulness. Letting go of this societal fixation frees women to embrace their adult
selves with confidence and self-acceptance.
If you’ve been dieting or exercising in a way that’s extreme, it’s unrealistic to
expect your body to maintain those results if you stop that extreme routine.
Extreme dieting and exercise regimens often push the body to a place of imbalance.
These short-term changes can lead to temporary results, but once you return to a more
sustainable routine, your body will naturally readjust to a healthier equilibrium. The
pressure to maintain extreme habits indefinitely is not only unrealistic but also
potentially harmful to your physical and mental health. Recognizing that your body
cannot and should not be expected to function optimally under extreme conditions helps
in fostering a healthier, more sustainable relationship with food, movement, and
self-care.
If you need to maintain an extreme routine, then maybe the weight and size you
are at that time isn’t realistic or healthy.
If staying at a particular weight or size requires constant restriction or punishing
exercise, that may be a signal that the weight or size isn’t naturally sustainable for you.
The body thrives when given a balance of nourishment, movement, and rest. If you find
yourself needing to maintain extreme habits to stay at a specific size, it may be worth
exploring whether that goal aligns with what’s truly healthy for your body long-term.
Health and well-being encompass more than just appearance, and tuning into what
feels good and sustainable in your body is a powerful step toward authentic wellness.
Celebrities and models don’t always look like that; they go through periods of
extreme diets and exercise prior to upcoming jobs to appear a certain way.
The images of celebrities and models we often see are typically the result of months of
preparation, including strict diets, intense workout routines, and even retouching in
post-production. These carefully curated looks are rarely reflective of how these
individuals appear in everyday life. Many models and celebrities openly admit that the
extreme measures they take for a role, photoshoot, or red-carpet event are
unsustainable for regular life. Recognizing that what you see in the media is not a daily
reality can help reduce unrealistic comparisons and remind you that all bodies fluctuate
and change—even those of people in the public eye.
Bio: Emily is a therapist with over eight years of experience in eating disorder treatment, specializing
in a person-centered and holistic approach to care. A graduate of Chestnut Hill College, she is
passionate about helping clients reconnect with their authentic selves by fostering
self-compassion and addressing the underlying factors that contribute to disordered eating. Her
focus is on creating a supportive and nonjudgmental space, Emily collaborates with clients to
promote healing, resilience, and lasting recovery.
https://www.thethirdspacecollective.com