Claire Zhang

This article is a brain dump of what I have been thinking about the past few weeks. Over the past few months, there have been countless memes depicting the quarantine 15. The concept is simple we will all gain 15 pounds by the time that quarantine is over. While I have nothing against funny memes quarantine 15 is sure to be a challenge for many of us. Recently, family members have casually been making comments about me gaining weight. While I understand that the comment is intended to be viewed as a joke or be fun the interpretation of that comment can vary widely. After hearing weight gain comments for a few months over and over again I was not exactly sure how to react and create a new conservational topic to discuss. I continued to tolerate the comments almost daily until one day I blew up.

Eventually, I became emotional and had to address the issue at hand. I calmly proceeded to explain my feeling and hoped for more positive affirmations to be used. This technique was not as useful as I had hoped. A few weeks later I began to realize that I am beautiful and powerful. I always remind myself that eating an extra piece of chocolate does not matter 10 years from now. Allow yourself the freedom to do what you need to do. We are in challenging times and the decisions we make may not be supported by everyone. We are all trying to make the best of this year. No matter how you cope always shine on. To all of the teens struggling with body image please know that it is okay to give yourself some grace. We should all be proud of the transformations we have been through over the past year. Change is not a negative thing. Although, we may look or feel different than 1 year ago know that transformations are all a part of our stories. Embracing myself has allowed me to stay grounded and always remain hopeful. Our mental health can be greatly improved when we learn to love ourselves