Is your body image blooming this Spring?

Spring is here, and summer’s a heartbeat away. Everyone’s looking forward to warm sunshine, cool evenings, barbecues, and vacations. Finally, you will be able to store the baggy sweat pants and fleece jackets and opt for short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and sandals.

Or will you? Does the thought of that make you wince?

Body image. It’s a touchy subject, especially as we get older. In our minds, (or at least in mine), we are permanently 38-46 years old, and a new pair of shorts or sandals is very appealing. It reminds us of picnics, baseball, and fresh green grass.

Then it happens…we look at ourselves in the mirror and wonder…

What happened to my legs?

Why are there so many strange spots on my skin?

Can I wear these clothes without everyone staring?

And my feet…my toes didn’t used to look like this…are sandals impossible?

And don’t even bring up swimwear. Male or female, we often spend too much time before a mirror playing our least favorite game of hesitate and debate. Can I? Should I? Will I?

What if we all decided we are just okay, that we have earned every wrinkle, stretch mark, and hammer toe. We don’t live in Hollywood (at least not most of us) and we don’t have a makeup crew ready to make sure we look our most fabulous self every time we step out the door.

We’re real people. We’re over 50. And we’re hitting the beach!

Having a negative body image is more than annoying. It can hurt our health. It can lead to depression and anxiety. It can make us want to cut off interactions with others, whether it’s a day at the beach or going to the gym or any other activity that puts us around others. It can lead to eating disorders.

Maybe it’s finally time to toss out the idea that there is one ideal weight, shape, skin color, or hair color for everyone—we’re a mixed basket, which makes life wonderful. And that’s true for men as well as women.

What’s really hard is when you heard negative comments about your body when you were growing up. I think those are some of the deepest wounds and they can take a lifetime to heal. Even if you look in the mirror now and know that you’ve changed, and you’re no longer that child with thick glasses or braces or whatever your pain point was, you can still feel that way when you walk through a crowded room or enter a family reunion.

But we really aren’t the same…we’re older, wiser, and we know our true beauty, talent, and value lies within. We’ve learned exterior looks are fleeting. And we’ve probably seen many former classmates who were “most likely to” fall far short from their much heralded potential. (And while we’re not supposed to enjoy that, it can be hard not to sometimes.)

Maybe it comes down to rebooting our thinking.

Some studies show that when people focus simply on changes in eating and activity, and NOT on weight or size, they achieve much greater and long-lasting results. They start to feel better. They are healthier. They’re not running to the scales every day or staying inside when everyone else is heading to the pool.

They also do not compare themselves to others, and they spend more time with people who approach food and activity in a positive way. They talk to their children and grandchildren about loving themselves and not letting television or the movies convince them they should have different hair or noses or other body parts.

And maybe most importantly, they talk to themselves differently.

No more of this critical talk in front of a mirror. You wouldn’t say these things to a friend. Why would you say it to yourself?

Granted, staying physically fit and active is so important to a long and healthy life. Try tai chi. Do some yoga. Walk around a track. If there’s a gym like Welcyon (for people 50 and better) in your area, drop by and see what they’re doing. Don’t let the couch become your best friend. But through it it all, don’t think you have to hide your gray hair or your wrinkles.

More and more, we hear and see boomers and beyond embrace who they are and live their lives with full gusto. It can be as simple as going sleeveless. Putting on a bathing suit. Brushing their hair and celebrating the white patches.

Donning bicycle shorts and taking that hill (no one, of any age, looks good in those anyway).

Spring is a time for everything to reach up to the sun and celebrate life. And that includes us!