Do you know your body shape?

Me in Ibiza a month ago!

5ft 2, slightly chubby hips, thunder thighs, a very small waist and an ample bust. That's how I would summarise my body shape, but it's not necessarily how other people would see me. When you look at yourself, you're often the most critical. When you wake up in the morning, a higher percentage of girls would scream at what they saw in the mirror rather than embrace a huge smile. It's the society we live in where we are constantly reminded that to be plastic and blonde is commonly appreciated and if you're anything above 6 stone and below 5ft 8 you're abnormal. Okay, that may be a slight over exaggeration, but that's how a lot of girls see it and me included. I've always been openly honest about the way I see myself on this blog. I've been from size 18 to size 6 and now settled at a size 8 to 10. I've seen my wobbly bits expanded and de-expanded, I've seen my thighs go through thick to thin and I've learnt that no matter what body shape I am, I'm never happy. Truth? I was less concerned about my weight when I was a size 18 as I had nothing to lose. I knew I was what society deemed 'fat' and I didn't have to prove for years on end that I'm not gaining the weight back that I have lost. Dieting seems like a yo-yo of ups and downs and when you reach the end, people still have their concerns. Let's face it, you can never win. Fact. 

The other day I was browsing Twitter and someone tweeted this link from www.marisota.co.uk discussing body size. As their clothes are too large for me, I've never really visited the website, but I found their new campaign rather delightful. Marisota are on a mission to make women aware of what their actual body size is, rather than how women perceive themselves. You could stand in front of three of four different women and they will all tell you that you're a different body shape. Even my partner selected a different body to shape on the chart for me. On the Marisota blog there's a game called 'Get Wise About Your Size" that you can play, where you can pick the body size that you think you are and at the results, it will tell you which of the bodies you are most like by entering your waist measurements. It was this game that inspired my blog post as I selected the third person from the diagram and it turns out that I'm actually a similar size to number 1.

It shocked me that I'm so far off recognising myself and it also highlighted how frightening it can be for women that think they are so much bigger than they are. According to this diagram, I see myself 12.5% fatter than I actual am. Maybe it's time for me to stand in front of a bigger mirror and applaud myself for being towards the smaller end of the scale. Self recognition and value is important. You could be any one of those women on the scale and be the most beautiful person in the world inside and out. Everyone in the world is unique and there's no-one out there quite like you.

Have you checked out "Get wise about your size"?

*All screen shots taken from Marisota website and do not belong to me.