This Is Why You Will Never Look Like Your Favorite Celebrity

Unsplash/Yoann Boyer

How many renowned actresses, models, musicians and the like do you follow on Instagram? And how many articles do you read by lifestyle publications, both in print and on the oh-so-wonderful Internet, promising you the key to Kim Kardashian’s perfectly round derriere or Jennifer Aniston’s tiny yet toned and muscular arms? And even when you know better, how often do you read anyway, hoping that somehow a tip here and a trick there just might work?

You’re not alone. So many women around the country (and the world, really) base a lot of their body image expectations not on what they see in the mirror and the health goals they’re trying to achieve, but rather the bodies of others already in the spotlight. Even when you consciously try to avoid these influences, they somehow still find a way to seep in. So every so often, it’s important to give yourself a seemingly harsh reality check: you will never look like them.

Unsplash/Fabrizio Verrecchia

Why is that, exactly?

First, do you have access to an on-call personal trainer? Or the finances to have your body through the wringer for hours upon hours every day in preparation for a new movie role or music video? That’s right, 99.99 percent of us don’t have these luxuries. But even if you did, do you need to shell out that much for that amount of fitness for the sake of your job? My guess is probably not.

Second, do you have a live-in chef preparing all of your amazing, anti-inflammatory, plant-based meals for you? Or are you someone who considers the day a win when you have time to whip up something healthy in your at-home blender (which likely isn’t a Vitamix)? Even as the latter, you’re doing pretty well in life.

The third (and most important) reason is the most simple and obvious of all: you will never look like them because you will always look like you.

And you know what? That’s a good thing. A very good thing.

You grace this planet with your unique genetics, physique, personality and interests. Your life story is your own, and your body has carried you successfully from the starting point to where you stand now. So let it be what it is.

I’m certainly not suggesting that you shouldn’t work hard and strive to be healthy and take care of yourself. I’m just saying do all of these things with the end goal of arriving at the best version of you. Embrace both your strengths and your weaknesses, your favorite features and your trouble spots, the long twiggy legs you inherited from your mom’s side and the propensity for cellulite from your dad’s side. Embrace it all without comparing yourself to someone else you don’t even know in real life. Put your own power back into your hands.

Only then will you be able to genuinely feel content and healthy with your own body image rather than clinging to a picture that isn’t (and will never be) you.