If you hear the word body image, you most probably imagine a girl standing in front of the mirror and either liking what she sees or is not so happy.
A girl worrying about her appearance and how other's perceive her.
It does not really cross your mind that boys can also have some body image problems.
Boys always seem so carefree, no problem getting in to a bathing suit, no matter if they are skinny or well build or a little overweight.
This is not totally true. Boys can also have problems with their body image and most of the time they will not talk about it to somebody.
Why do we worry about body image?
Your body image is the way you see yourself and feel about yourself. A lot of times a boy can have a negative body image which means he is not comfortable with the way he looks and this will influence the way he goes about life.
Maybe he is shy or do not want to do certain activities with his friends, like swimming, and he can also have difficulty speaking to girls because he believes that if he is not happy with his body, nobody will be. (This obviously happens to girls too)
Puberty hits and changes everything
Before puberty, very few boys are worried about what they look like. They just want to play and have fun.
Then suddenly they are teenagers and going through puberty and everything changes. You are maybe one of the boys who develops slower than your friends and automatically you feel something is wrong with you. There can even be times when your friends are fully developed and you have not even started shaving yet and still looks like a little boy. This can lead to teasing from your friends and staying behind on the social calendar.
Once you start developing you end up with a cracking voice and pimples and knees sticking out - even less to have a good body image about.
If a boy was insecure about his body before puberty starts, it is going to worsen now and just make them feel more insecure about themselves.
How can you build a better body image
It can have a huge negative influence on you if your body image is determining what your experiences of life are going to be - you will miss out on a great deal of things, because you will be too busy worrying about how you feel or how somebody else feels about your body.
1. Concentrate on your strengths
Decide what are the things you like about yourself or what you are good at. Maybe you are good at certain sports or maybe you are good at singing or drawing. Give more attention to these things in order to make you feel good and not feel like a failure.
2. Do something active
Not all people excel in sports but everybody can be active - no matter if you play rugby or cricket or ride your bike or do some skateboarding or just walk around the block, any form of activity will do you well, help you get rid of your frustrations and even help keep you in shape.
3. Have respect for yourself
You are the one person who will speak the most to you in one day, so be kind in what you say. Do not stand in front of the mirror everyday and just degrade yourself and only find fault with yourself.
4. Find positive things about yourself
Do not harm your body with bad habits like smoking and drinking. Try and eat healthy as often as you can and have respect for your own body - it is the only one you have.
Make sure you practice good hygiene and start feeling proud of who you are. A positive attitude will eventually be part of your daily life and you will start feeling better about yourself.
5. Do not try and be like somebody else
You need to realize that you are special and different from other people. Do not compare yourself to your friends and do not let your body define you.
You are more than just your body. You have a personality and a brain. Use it. You can have a beautiful body and nothing else which makes you an empty shell.
So be proud of who you are and embrace the sense of being unique - those who really deserves your time and effort will love and accept you just the way you are.
If you spend too much time on criticizing yourself you will forget to live life to its fullest.
So yes, even though it must be great being well built and turning girl's heads, their are so much more to life than that. (most boys only learns this once they are adults and have wasted a lot of time dwelling on things that are not that important)
For more information on this topic you can read https://au.reachout.com/articles/guys-and-body-image
