How I got rid of my body insecurities

“I used to have subscriptions to a bunch of men’s magazines, but I grew out of it. I mean, it’s always the same thing, it’s the reign of thin bodies, criteria and boxes you have to fit into”. These words are Nazar’s, a dancer. Complexes can be a heavy burden to bear for men. We asked four guys with different stories how they managed to accept their bodies as they are, and learned to love them, in spite of these insecurities.”

“My story is pretty common. I was a rather chubby kid, when I was 14, I weighed 83kg for 1m70. I was laughed at a lot, and I took a very long time to accept my body. The situation wasn’t any better as an adult, as I still struggled with weight: I’d lose some, and then put it back on, with a little extra on top” explains Jean Baptiste, 26. He too points out the role of diktats when it comes to men’s bodies: “the media encourage the cult that exists around bodies, and it only makes things worse when you’re not super comfortable in your skin”. His turning point? “After a rough breakup I decided to take better care of myself. It started with my skin, and then working out, and finally getting tattooed”.

The tattooing — Jean Baptiste has four and is working on his fifth — was a way of taking control of his body again. “All the efforts I put in today, I put in for myself. I’ve learned to detach myself from the perception and judgment others might have of me”. Jean Baptiste found support in this approach by seeing a psychologist. “She helped me put a lot of things in perspective”.

Jean Baptiste has also started to regularly work out, in order to accept his body. He’s assisted by a coach, but remain autonomous: “It’s online coaching, and rather minimal. The coach checks on my progress regularly via email, but I’m all by myself at the gym. It helps a lot to be able to outsource your motivation, in a way”, he says. His programme consists mostly of weight training and cardio. Obviously, his diet is particularly scrutinised: “for a long time, I’d just stick to eating vegetables all the time, but I ended up getting frustrated and would eat anything I could put my hands on to compensate. These days, I count my calorie intake, but I eat a little of everything”. The result speaks for itself: 7 kilos down, and a fair amount of muscle gained.

He concludes by saying: “I’m going through a gradual transformation: learning to get along with my body again, finally getting rid of my acne, and disregarding other people’s judgment to start doing things for myself”.

Clément is albino. He tells us: “As far back as I can remember, I’ve always known that I was different, and it was an issue for me for a long time. I was born in South Korea and adopted by a French couple when I was 10 months old. I grew up in the countryside in the north of France, where children thought I was strange because of my white hair. I started to understand I was being bullied when I was about 8”.

He started learning to accept his body at a young age: “I started dyeing my hair blond in grammar school, to better fit in, but it didn’t really change anything. People would still stare to try to find out what was wrong with me, they wondered why I wore sunglasses so often, if I had coloured contact lenses, or if I dyed my hair because I was embarrassed to be Asian. Back then, I was complex-ridden, shy, and withdrawn”.

Clément’s hair and clothes quickly became a means of expression: “From college onward, I started having fun with my appearance, in particular when it came to clothes. Once I’d started fashion school, I realised I still stood out, but people would stare at me because they were into the way I dressed, and not because they were laughing at the way I looked. From then on, I took it one notch further, and started to curl my hair, dye it green, blue, and red. Strawberry blonde hair really suited me (laughs). I went from hiding to just saying ‘fuck it’, and gradually learned to love myself”.

As a result, he happily states he’s much less insecure these days. “I’ve taken control of the image I present to the world. I choose the colour of my hair, its style, my perfume, and my outfit according to my personality and mood. After years of criticism, bullying, and staring, taking care of myself is really a healthy form of revenge. In a way, it heals me internally”.

Christophe, tells us about his impressive growth spurt in college. “I grew 30cm during my first year in college, and even though I was eating a lot, I didn’t seem to put on any weight. I was tall and skinny”. This earned him more than his fair share of mockery. “It was more friends taking the piss, than real bullying” he says. So much so, in fact, that he never really felt insecure.

These days, things are unfortunately a little different: “The all-healthy-everything trend is unbearable. It sometimes feels like if you’re not a regular marathon-runner, you’re not living your best life. A sound mind in a sound body is a positive mantra, unfortunately it often feels more like muscle and fitness are being force-fed to us, which is extremely annoying when you’re tall, thin, and not at all into sports. I’ve therefore now decided that a sound mind has more to do with being at peace with your body without worrying too much about all that stuff”.

Nazar — one of the models of our shower gel campaign — put on a lot of weight following an illness. In his interview with us, he stated: “I have no other choice than to accept my body, so I might as well use it as motivation to be stronger”. On the topic of body acceptance and insecurity, his approach is simple and inspiring: “As soon as you start accepting your body the way it is, you leave no choice to others but to accept it too. You impose yourself as you are”. Words to live by.