Long time no see! This weeks have been fun and exciting! My best friend has been here visiting me the past weeks, so I really had some time off with her to just recharge and have fun. I am preparing the last stuff for a photo shoot tomorrow! I am so excited, we are doing the evening dress and bikini/underwear. The dress is absolutely fantastic!  So I can not wait. I tired the make-up and hair today and I think it will turn out good. So I will head out for a nice dinner now, then wake up early tomorrow and head out for the shoot in New Jersey! Stay tuned!

Kisses,

Rebecca

So what is a body image exactly? It’s is an idea of how we are supposed to be and look. It is an expectation of what we should be and want to be. I do not think it is a bad thing to work towards a goal, to be fit and active or to work for the looks you want and appear as what society will say: beautiful. But when society create a unreal idea of body imagine for us, we need to say stop or change that.

This subject has been discussed for ages and it is still a hot topic. We are surrounded by a world focusing on body image everywhere. We see it on TV, on social media, on commercials, we talk about it and read about it. There is TV shows about it – it is everywhere. “You need to be thinner, fitter, smarter or have bigger boobs. You need a certain type of cloths, or stuff to be cool” Do you really? I do not think so. However, society make us believe we do. After I decided to attend Miss Norway, questions about body image have been brought up a lot. After all it is a beauty pageant, so let me share my thoughts about this.

As a young girl growing up in a decade where we get influenced constantly and informed everyday about how we are supposed to look and be, life can be challenging. We create an idea based on what we see, and think we need to be like that. Those body images have been very unhealthy for years and are still images that, girls live by. The past years we have expanded technology and information, which means that we can access everything. I see beautiful girls and commercials and think I need to look like that, and if I do think like that, more girls do.

 I am 24 now, and I am smart enough to understand that most of these pictures are edited and retouched and are unlike most girls. However when I was younger, I thought I needed to look like that. Growing up in a world where this is something you see everyday it became a part of you. That is why I think we as girls, have responsibility to be good role models and images for other girls. Because we affect each others/

In 1999 I was 6 years old, and the access we had to pictures and influence compared to now, is very different. I can only imagine what girls from the age of 6 and up live by today.  I think it is so important that we, and the generations above us on social media, educates both girls and boys about a healthy body image. We know that they have access to much information online and they grow up in a society where there is a big focus on exactly body image. In 1999, we lacked people to educate us about body image, because our parent generation adapted to technology in the same ways we did. I think we even adapted faster than our parents and the generation above us, because kids learn faster than adults. I wish we had somebody to teach us about this, that we did not needed to grow up in a world with a messed-up view on body image.

Kids are not able to diverse reality from fiction and that can create many unhealthy body images battles for them. We need to change the body image to a image that is healthy and realistic and we need to educate kids and younger generations about it. We want them to grow up happy with a healthy view on life and looks.

As a competitor in Miss Norway it is very important for me to be a good role model and example for especially young girls. I am not a super model, and I will never be. And that is ok. But I do want a healthy body image, and I do want to work hard to reach my goals and that is what I want to show with this competition. Yes we compete in competition about being beautiful. But being beautiful is more than just a face it is also come from the heart, and that is more than what a body image promotes. They go a long very well, and are closely correlated, but do not need to be the same. While a body image only focus on looks; tall, small, thin, curvy, long, fit, normal is beautiful more than that.  Beautiful can be nice, smart, kind, good, pretty, thin and thick, high, funny, caring. The list goes long. My point is that we should focus on being good and beautiful humans. What is a  person with a specific body image, if they do not have a heart? Yes you can be beautiful on the outside, but remember to be beautiful on the inside too and let that be the focus!

I want girl to grow up in a society where hard work is valued and you should recognized for your achievement. But as a society we need to make it possible to reach those goals and be good role models and be REAL. We are defining the next generations as well as our own. I want to be a good example, and in Miss Norway I feel I have a reason to promote this even better.

Hands up for good body images and beautiful girls!

In my previous post I wrote a section about a healthy lifestyle and what a healthy life style for me means and how that goes a long ibn this competition. So I have made a list that I think will help you to have a healthier life style in general.

1. Set your self realistic goals!

If you dream about reaching a goal, be realistic. I believe people are in position to achieve almost everything they want, but the goal need to be realistic. If your goal is run a marathon, you will need too prepare in a certain amount of time to be able to do it. So, a week will be to little time to prepare for most people. Be realistic in all your goals and you will see you will be able to do it.

2. It is ok to take a break.

I tend to push myself a little hard to times, I have to many things going on and sometimes I do not make it all. But that is ok. Sometimes we need a break or a day off or a day to do nothing, without feeling bad about it. But if you take a break one time, even if it is when you actually was supposed to do something else, allow your self that break. We are not superhero’s and we can allow us a break. If you do what you are supposed to most of the time, then do not feel bad for one break. I believe we preform better later If we take a break when we need.3

3.Plan a head.

If you have a busy week or in general just goals to reach, plan your week a head so you are sure to make time for what you want. Then you can ensure that you will have time for what you want and you will also see how much more efficient you can be. Planning gives me more time to what I want and to reach my goals as well as relaxing and have fun. Because I do not waste so much time procrastinating and do nothing.

 4. Say no.

It is ok to say no to things you don't have time for or want to do. We can not be everywhere all the time, and please everybody. If you feel you are doing way more then you are capable of, if its making you prioritize yourself less, and you do not have time to waht you want, it is ok to say no. When you are valuing your time more, you are valuing yourself more, and people would recognize that.

5. Prioritize:

You are responsible to create your own happiness, so you need to prioritize your time to do what matter for you. Is it more important to go to the gym, visit the grannies, or go to the movies? You need to think over what you base your choices on. Maybe one day you really need a nigh tout with friends, then you should go! But if you have been out with friends 4 days in a row, maybe you will need to change your choices a little. It is something to think through.

A healthy lifestyle is an important part of my life and a part of Miss Norway competition. This is something that is highly valued in the competition and I will explain my view on this.  And when I say healthy I do not mean that you need to be on a diet, work out crazy or doing things that will change your normal routine extremely. Extreme changes are never healthy I most cases I think, which I will tell you more about later because I have been there, I know what I am talking about.

For me a healthy life comes with a happy life. If you need to do anything to make you feel bad or put you in an uncomfortable situation over time, it is not healthy because it will ruin your life quality. It is all about a good balance. I took me years to find this balance to realize what it will say to be healthy

For me a healthy life is a combination of a good body health. That your organs and body function in the right way. That you have a good relationship with your body and feel good about yourself. A natural part of that to me is to work out and exercise regularly.

Second, it is a healthy diet. It is to eat good and healthy food. I will say that Norway in general are amazing with focus on healthy food (compared to what I have experienced travelling and living elsewhere). It is about eat enough and eat healthy. This also need a balance. I love to treat myself, and I do not care if I eat chocolate every day, however is all about amount and balance. I will give some tips about this later.

Third, is about happiness. It is so important to do what you like and want and what do make you happy. If you are living by others rules and someone else goal, you are not living the life you want. I think this can be the hardest part in many people lives, we live by expectations of others. I have always been following my dreams or wants regardless of what I heard from others I should, but it has also taking me where I wanted. Yes sometimes it failed, but at least I followed my heart and did what I wanted. I think I have a long way as a human to go here, and to learn. Because I always still care about what society expect of me or other too. However, I have learned to make the decisions that makes me happy. If I am not happy with my job, I would end it, If I do not like my studies I could change. Because in the end it is us that is responsible for our own happiness isn’t it? Miss Norway for me is a motivation and a part of something that makes me happy and gives me a push back to do things I want more. I am excited to be part of this journey!

I was hanging out with my best friend the other day, and we were walking around and I told her I always wanted to have pink hair. We both have a passion for hair and styling and are always our friends private hair dressers. So spontaneous as we were, we went to the store, got some pink color and BAM BAM. I have pink hair and I am in love with it.

Yes it will only last for a few shampoos and I would be back to blond by next week. But it is fun to be strawberry blond for a change. I love to be a litter spontaneous sometimes.  I hope we can do a nice shoot with my pink hair as long as it lasts!

Good Afternoon!

Yesterday was a day filled with meaning. I have been at the Holy Apostle Soup Kitchen and helped serve 865meals to people in need of it. It is with a mixed feeling you are going doing that. It feels so good to make a difference. That the few hours you work and contribute with can have such a big impact on others life. To see people that only owe and have what they carry with them around appreciate a normal meal that much, is incredible.

I met John, he was telling me he had been struggling financially, and had been on the streets the past years. John was clearly not affected by any drugs or addictions, he had just been unlucky in life. In US there is a lack of a social system that take cares of people like John. I Norway this would rarly be the case. We have a social system that take care of us if that happens. We should know how lucky we are in Norway, John told me a lot about NYC, and he was so good by heart. I felt so sad knowing that he would leave this church just walking around waiting for the next meal. He said he would love to meet me again a time he came back, so he could teach me more about New York. I indeed hope I will meet Jon again too.

“Just to come here and get my meal is a thing, but when you are smiling and being here too it make my day’.  I make their day? It is so crazy, I did not do much, but it means a lot to them. If I could come here everyday I would. Cause sometimes you do not need to do so much, but by doing something it make a great change in some people lives. I do not think it was only the homeless and poor that got something that day. I got a lot too. I can go to bed with a better feeling, and know that at least I did what I could today to make it better for somebody that don’t have what I have. I will defintly keep working more with this. And I encourage everybody to do the same. It is the small things that make the world a bit better place.  

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