'Riverdale's Camila Mendes Talks About Learning to Love Her Body—Reigning Women

With the recent stirring of National Eating Disorder Awareness week on social media, Riverdale's Camile Mendes weighed in with her own experiences.

Her heartfelt offering on her Instagram seemed to resonate with an overwhelming number of her followers as she shared her experiences with learning to love her own body.

She noted that in the last year, she's given up the idea of achieving a body that has "conditioned" her "to believe is the only acceptable shape." Mendes went on to note that while she didn't necessarily pay attention to numbers on a scale, she did strive for an image that warranted "give-that- girl-a-sandwich vibes."

The words of her post truly spoke volumes. From the perspective of someone who has gone through similar psychological doubts on eating habits and body image, some of her words truly hit home.

Mendes discussed trust as a key component to her learning how to love and appreciate her own body.

She noted that instead of growing worrisome over smaller details, her general wellbeing was something she began to prioritize.

Things like drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, and eating enough veggies she ultimately equated to, “trusting that I care enough about my wellbeing to make healthy choices more often than not.”

To me, this makes serious waves.

See, we're living in an era where #SelfCare is a thing. Yet, too many of us have a warped perception of what "self-care" actually means.

With this new wave, there has been the unfortunate muddying of perspective by the current standard of beauty set in place for women. (i.e. slim, free of curves, cellulite, and stretch marks.)

Too often I see women associating #SelfCare with becoming what they deem "in shape," and taking a familiarly dangerous route to get there.

Camila Mendes, hosting the attention of a staggering 15.9M followers, shares a concept of prioritizing health over shape.

It is not often enough that we spread a message of generalized health, and it's too often that we're slightly missing the mark by pushing the #SelfCare agenda.

While a version of #SelfCare might genuinely mean losing unhealthy body weight or paying closer attention to one's diet, it does not and should not enforce the same-old storyline of skinny = healthy.

For this, Camila Mendes 100 percent has our ear and commendation for sharing great bravery around her own personal recovery.

The #SelfCare generation might be slightly missing the point, but conversations from survivors of great influencers (and those without), establish a level of comfort for people to share their own experiences and become honest in their pursuit of health.

While it isn't easy, public communication about issues of such severity makes a massive impact on how people perceive one another.

I mean, let's be real. If you had told me that Camila Mendes suffered from body-esteem, I'd think you were crazy. But her willingness to share her thoughts not only changes and humbles my perception of her but it also gives this sense of universality to an issue that can seem pretty lonesome.

At the end of the day, the mentality surrounding eating body issues and caring for one's self can get really clouded. But there is one thing that matters most, you.

You, the #kween that's reading this, are the most important thing there is. Your quality of life, your happiness and internal wellbeing, THAT is all that matters. So when you look at yourself and you think that you need more #SelfCare in your life, consider your general wellbeing first. Consider that your shape and your state of being right now is acceptable, okay, and beautiful in all senses of the word's dimensions.

Regardless of how you might wish to change, please know that no pounds lost or body part modified can change the makeup of your soul.