Get Happy, Get Fit // Sunday Times' very welcomed attempt at changing the nation's view on body image

For the ones who had a notion, A notion deep inside, That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive 
I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me, I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these badlands - Badlands (1978)

Whilst roaming the internet last week I came across the Sportist blog and found them discussing the Sunday Times' Get fit, get happy - Fit not Thin campaign. It was the first I had heard of it so off I went to delve deeper in to what sounded like one of the best campaigns I had heard of in Women's sport in a long while.

Women are relentlessly fed images of the ideal body. With tabloid magazines flooding the shelves of our local newsagents and images of the 'perfect' women that reside in these 'zines even plaguing our television boxes, it seems that there is no escape from our image obsessive world for the modern woman. However, instead of turning to the gym to get fit and healthy, women very often turn to diets, not eating and occasionally starving themselves to achieve that 'perfect' body, the body that the model world is loving right now. Anybody could tell you that this is a bad idea. Well, you would think so but thousands of young girls and women turn to diets everyday to become society's ideal woman but in fact they're just becoming yet another broken member of our quite unstable world. 

Not eating can cause numerous affects, both mentally and physically, that could last with you a long time. It can effect bone growth, your hair, nails, and your emotions. A lot of starving people (self inflicted) are incredibly unhappy and have lost the love for life. Is giving yourself up to the diet world worth the skinny body that in years to come people will forget about? It might feel at the time that getting in to those size 6 jeans is the most important thing in life but in years to come you will see that by attempting to achieve this unnecessary goal, you have missed a big chunk of your life that you will never get back. 

Getting fit and getting skinny are two totally different things and this needs to be drummed, poured, carved and hammered in to people's minds. Getting skinny by fad diets which, most likely than not, will see the dieter gain the weight back once they start to eat again creates, in the words of Johnny Cash, a ring of fire, a hellish ring of fire where diets and unhappiness with one's body image becomes the norm.   It was revealed a few months ago that the average British woman will spend 30 years of her life on a diet. 30 years! This is an incredible, incredibly frightening, statistic. 

Britain and the World need to change women's attitudes towards weight loss and the Sunday Times are doing just this one newspaper at a time. Daisy Lowe, a model that many young women have aspired to look like, is fronting the campaign and what a great choice by the newspaper. Lowe has most probably been the inspiration for many young women to go on diets in an attempt to achieve the model's 'perfect' body' thus by using her as this campaign's poster girl the message is being sent out quite loudly and very clearly that in order to get this body you need to get fit not thin. 

After the glorious summer of sport that we witnessed back in 2012, strong and fit was just beginning to become the order of the day for many men and women across the land after Olympic heroes such as Jessica Ennis-Hill and Laura Trott powered their way to the top of the podium. But despite this surge in positive body image nobody capitalised on the opportunity to permanently transform the mentality of the younger female generation and in only a few weeks we were all back looking at Victoria Beckham's immensely slender frame in the recent issue of Heat magazine. Well, that was until the Sunday Times thought it was time to change all of that and thank God someone has taken this initiative.  

What do you achieve when on a diet? Yes in the short run you might loose a few pounds but once the holiday has come and gone that weight will be put back again. What do you achieve after sweating it out in the gym, on the field or in the pool? You become stronger, not only physically but mentally also. You have the muscles to prove it. You are able to dance longer, you're able to work better and you'll be a lot happier. Exercise is a wonderful thing that many of us do not take advantage of. Endorphins that are released after a good sweat are a wonderful thing. They can turn you in to a totally different person and after a long hard workout you feel a lot more energetic that you would just sitting on the sofa watching Masterchef - no really, this is true. There is no better high that the high you achieve after completing a hard hour or so of exercise. I dare you all to try it. 

There is no doubt that there is a mountain to climb in terms of changing the World's view on female body image but what the Sunday Times are doing is a great, very wonderful start. Fit not thin - that is the way forward. Healthier and happier bodies - what is not to like about this idea? Women, the next time you think about starving yourself but for a morning shake of broccoli with a side of broccoli please just head to the gym and eat a balanced healthy diet with at least three belly-filling meals a day and I promise you girls that you will not only look great but you will feel even more fantastic. 

The Sunday Times' Get Fit not Thin campaign