Made In Chelsea star Ashley James has shared a powerful statement about gaining weight in self-isolation.
As many countries around the word participate in a lockdown, many are turning to the internet to document their day to day activities – with some seeing the time at home as a motivator to lose weight.
However, Ashley has stressed that the pressure to lose weight duting this time coule be damaging.
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Ashley shared an empowering statement with her followers:
“I want to talk about exercise in isolation, because I feel like I’m seeing it everywhere at the moment,” she penned.
“There’s no doubt moving your body is amazing for your mental health, never mind your physical health, and I applaud everyone who is using this time to do all those workouts, but I just want to say that it’s ok if you’re not right now. I’m not either. Well, apart from dancing badly to happy music around the flat.”
Pic credit: Dave Benett
“I used to see exercise as a form of punishment: punishment for eating a cupcake or crisps, punishment for slipping on my diet. I hated going to the gym, but felt like I had to in order to get my dream body.”
“But do you know what I realised? Your dream body doesn’t exist with that mindset because you’ll never be good enough for yourself. I look back at photos of my body and wonder why on Earth I spent so much time hating and punishing it.”
“I don’t do that anymore. I move my body for enjoyment. I love my body regardless of how it looks. Weight gain is not the scariest thing because I love the way my body looks either way. I don’t have ‘flaws’ because cellulite, stretch marks, and a belly are very normal.”
“Being skinny is not a marker for beauty, being confident is. And that comes with learning to love yourself, not by punishing yourself. When it comes to exercise, I love the feeling of punching boxing bags at Kobox (nothing more satisfying than thinking of your exes face as you repeatedly blow off steam to good music).”
“I love feeling the wind against my face as I run along the river listening to wicked tunes in Battersea Park, even if it’s only for 10 mins (which I’m not doing at the moment as I’m using my one time out to walk Snoop and FaceTime friends).”
I love going to trampoline parks. And that’s not possible right now. What I’m not going to do is punish myself for enjoying the food I’m learning to cook (I love pasta). Or putting on a little weight.”
“It’s ok if you’re not using this time to work out or achieve ‘body goals’.”
