How Do You Cope with Body Changes in Your Mid-20s?
I found out the hard way that our bodies do not stop with the drastic changes after puberty.
Like many other high schoolers I lacked a lot of confidence when it came to my body. I was incredibly skinny only weighing about 100 pounds and felt like every article of clothing was swallowing me. I never felt confident in my clothes and tried to keep to myself as a result. I would often hear comments from kids at school, coaches and my family that I should eat more and that I was too thin and weak. Because of this, I envied the women with curvy bodies and tried eating more to gain weight but it didn’t really help. After college, I became very interested in pilates and exercising became a part of my daily routine. I loved it so much that I became certified in teaching pilates and I can see that my body is now toned the way I wanted. But I also just hit my mid 20s (26 to be exact) and I had a hard time accepting the body that no longer was considered “too skinny” by society.
According to Dr. Maria Sophocles in Cosmo, it is normal for your weight to continue to increase annually in your 20s, mostly due to increase in body fat compared to teen years. Your diet and the amount you exercise in your teens doesn’t have the same effect as in in your mid-20s and older. It is much easier to stay slim in your younger years but as you get older you may carry weight in places you never did before. After researching because I was confused about my drastic body changes, it seems like women in their mid-late twenties almost have a second puberty stage as if having one in middle school wasn’t bad enough. You can experience more acne, more intense cramps and be more prone to infections like UTIs in your 20s.
Finding out this information made me feel slightly at ease with the drastic body changes I had and it didn’t help these changes took place during Covid lockdowns. After not going out for almost an entire year I decided to try on the clothes I had in my wardrobe. I had to discard about half since they were no longer fitting over my now curvier body. Because people haven’t seen me in person in over year, they often notice my body and never fail to comment on it. I get told that “I’m getting bigger” and I’m “no longer skinny” as if I didn’t notice it myself. And I don’t want to come off as the skinny girl who is complaining about her body changing. I had to wonder what if I was actually overweight, what would these people be saying to me? I’ve always tried to never comment on anyone’s body because I know how shitty it made me feel when I was younger and I’m still experiencing it now. I’m having a hard time adjusting from people not seeing me as skinny anymore and it has left me confused as what my body should look life. Before I was too skinny but now I’m too toned? It made me realize that no matter how my body looks people will always comment on it. If thats the case then I can’t stress about the comments and I just need to focus on getting the body that I want. But going forward can we stop commenting on people’s body? Why is that a norm in society? People have mirrors. We know how our bodies look and we don’t need you to explain to us what they look like. Accept your body is changing in your 20s and thats okay. All you can do is block out the comments and focus on the relationship between you and YOUR body because you are the one waking up in it every day.
The Sufficiently Black podcast is available on all podcast platforms! Please support by rating, following and leaving a review!
Join us on Discord!: discord.gg/d3RrepdTdQ
So-Called Oreos Club: www.joinclubhouse.com/club/so-called-oreos
Twitter: @sufficientlyblk
Instagram: @sufficientlyblk
YouTube: bit.ly/3nutxC2
Audience Survey: bit.ly/2vOYtH9
