Yashi Zeng

Welcome!

Puberty was not a topic that I was not very transparent about with my parents, I felt that I didn’t get the adequate amount of education surrounding this topic of puberty. Puberty is a very taboo subject that subjects a lot of stereotypes and the disliking of body transformations. People around me started realizing changes and inflicted changes upon me. One being the need to diet.

As an athlete who does cheer and ballet, figure responsibility is crucial in the eyes of others. The way you look is very important to these two sports where it showcases your body. In that case, the urge to fit into what other ballerinas and other cheerleaders looked was something I paid a lot of attention to, although that is not the main purpose of what these sports are meant to be. But the stereotypes to look a certain way put a lot of pressure on me.

The stereotype that struck me the hardest was trying to maintain a slim figure. People all over social media advertise having slim bodies and losing weight and that felt like the norm, urging me to do that as well. As well as dance teachers who urge us to lose weight or else we “wouldn’t look like dancers.” This idea made me self-conscious all the time about my body even though I knew I was going through changes that were going to slow my metabolism down and widen my hips and make me gain weight. Friends would start dieting at this age and the urge to fit in was important, making me want to start dieting as well to reach a point so unhealthy that I would lack a lot of energy on days and start losing focus. This was extremely detrimental to my health because not only was my physical health unwell but also my mental health.

I would only eat salads and keep away from salty and oily foods to try and maintain a slim figure before I had competitions.

My parents then realized what I had been doing as well as myself and I started to understand that gaining weight is okay and that eating healthy is good but not to the point where I stop eating. Now, I don’t control what I eat as much as before, eating healthy and avoiding junk food but not completely.