I think I’m probably the biggest fool when it comes to diet and beauty fads. I can safely say I have tried everything under the sun- all in the name of beauty. Or what I believed beauty to be at the time. Admittedly a lot of these were diet-related but I have invested heavily in some pretty out there beauty regimes too. It is no secret that Holland and Barrat is my favourite place on the planet. If anything is Organic and has some far-fetched health benefit, it's going straight in my basket … cuff me.
So this week I thought I would talk you through some of the outrageous things I have tried so you don’t bother trying them yourself. And trust me I’m about to save you a lot of time and money.
1) Cling filming my thighs
When looking back, this is a personal favourite of mine because of the pure stupidity. You may be wondering what the rationale for this was. And the answer to that I read somewhere that it would make me sweat more, and subsequently make my thighs thinner. You won't be surprised to hear it didn’t have the desired effect. I laugh now because I’m sure for a solid couple of months every person I spent time with must have been thinking “what the bloody hell is that rustling noise?” Surprise… it was my poor little leggies suffocated in cling film. I learned two things from this. Firstly, that clingfilm is bloody expensive (sorry Si and K dog) and secondly, I’m worryingly gullible – 1/10 (it’s quite funny on reflection, but utterly ridiculous).
2) Fenugreek and papaya tablets to make my titties grow
I can’t even say that my boobies have stopped growing because I don’t ever think they started. I like to think they are shy and I’m now ok with that. But for a long time, this was one of my biggest grievances with my body and was something I was desperate to change. I soon realised that a boob job at the age of sixteen was off the cards. I did bring this up with Si dog to test the waters but my request swiftly got denied. However, all hope was not lost and I took to Google (I’d advise against this) it’s a slippery slope. One solution to my issue kept popping up. Fenugreek and Papaya supposedly make your bobbies grow. So I got on to the Holland and Barrat website faster than a fast thing and placed my order. To those who know me now, you will have figured out that this did not work, and I didn’t get double D’s I dreamed of. It makes me sad to think I wanted to change my body and spoke so badly about it – we should love every part of ourselves and be thankful for the bodies we have been blessed with. Don’t buy into things that tell us otherwise. It’s a -1/10
1) Muffin top/ thigh gap diets and exercise routines
I think anyone with specific insecurities may be able to relate to this one. I know a lot of my friends as well as myself have admitted to googling the likes of “workout to get rid of x, y, z” or something along similar lines. In my naivety, I could not see through these fads and the shameless people promoting such videos. But now I think, what blithering idiot said that we shouldn’t have any fat on our tummies or a two-centimeter gap between our thighs. Especially for us females, I’m not going to and shouldn’t have to apologize for having a womb. To me, these workouts completely miss the point of what exercise is meant to be for. It turns it into something to achieve unrealistic beauty standards, promoted on social media which will then make you associate exercise with disappointment and not being good enough. Rather than doing exercise to release endorphins and make you feel epic. So do not buy into these specific workouts and diets. It is not possible to achieve targeted fat loss and you are perfect just the way you are -10000000/ 10
2) Sugar bear hair
I blame the Kardashians for this one, I mean if Kimmy K is telling me it works, it must be true right? I have always been desperate for thicker hair and nicer nails and when celebrities such as the Kardashians started promoting sugar bear hair supplements I thought. “Slap me on the bum and call me betty, it’s my lucky day” I genuinely thought that if I took a few of those bad boys I would suddenly wake up with the most luscious locks. But alas… I didn’t. Heart-breaking stuff. The quest for beauty is not an easy one let me tell you. 0.5/ 10 – did absolutely sod all but they tasted pretty yummy.
Basically, there is a load of crap out there, created by people who want to make money by making you feel as though you aren’t good enough. It can be very tempting, especially when you slip into patterns of negative thinking. It makes us feel better to believe that there is some quick fix or miracle solution that will miraculously get rid of your insecurities and you will suddenly feel better about yourself. We don’t want to accept that it’s a load of bollocks.
I have only spoken about of the thousands of fads out there. But my message applies to all of them. Don’t let people tell you that you aren’t good enough and you need to do something about it. You are and will always be enough.
If something looks too good to be true – it probably is
All my love
P
