International No Diet Day: When Bollywood celebs spoke about body positivity

International No Diet Day is an annual celebration of body acceptance and body shape diversity. Every year it is celebrated on May 6. This day is dedicated to promoting a healthy lifestyle with a focus on health at any size and also in raising awareness of the potential dangers of dieting. International No Diet Day’s symbol is a light blue ribbon. Over the years many Bollywood celebs have been seen raising awareness about body positivity. On International No Diet Day, here is a list of some of the celebrities who have voiced their opinions about it.

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra is popular for her international presence and humanitarian work. Over the year, Priyanka Chopra has boldly spoken about subjects like mental health, cyber-bullying and has also brought light upon body shaming. In an interview with a news portal, Priyanka Chopra opened how she was body-shamed for looking different when she was a teenage girl. She said,

"I think it happens to all of us especially in our business where you are supposed to look a certain way, dress a certain way, and yeah, you get pressure from everyone around. You need to figure out what your strengths are, put them in a box and just focus on those."

Sonam Kapoor

The rules of beauty are strict and it’s almost impossible to win. Anushka Sharma has been skinny-shamed, Sonakshi Sinha has been fat-shamed, Katrina Kaif has been fit-shamed. These are women who are and always have been staggeringly beautiful. But where there’s a broken system, there’s a solution. The problem is in mainstream culture’s rigid definitions of female beauty. The solution, for me, has been in the women I know.

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Taapsee Pannu

I think your body will be shamed only till you are ashamed of it, the day you take it positively and own it, it will be your prized possession… Many People on social media are just sitting to somehow dig an opportunity to abuse and laugh at someone, we don’t live for them or to please them. What matters at the end of the day is what makes you happy and not them. And all social media has an option to block! Use that.

Huma Qureshi

Girls are not commodities. We are not for other people’s viewing. We are not objects or animals. We have our own individuality. Who wants to blend in when you can stand out? It is not about being skinny, tan, fair, or curvy. It is important to be unique individuals and to be ourselves. Let women choose who they want to be. It is really sad when body shaming leads to people putting themselves in danger because of airbrushed notions. That is a very slavish mentality. We talk about equality at work all the time. It is very important to teach young girls to be comfortable in their own skin. I am a feminist and I want to emphasize that you don’t need to be a woman to be one. I salute all the men who also stand up for women’s rights.

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Sonakshi Sinha

It’s absolutely shameful. Today if anybody has been targeted for being a certain way, it’s me. But I don’t let it get to me. I know what is more important is that I project a healthy body image for girls who look up to me. Tomorrow if I become skinny, what’s the point? I won’t be able to work well. I’ll fall sick all the time. I know that’s not my body structure, not my body type. I’ve worked very hard to look the way I look today. I used to weigh 95 kilos.

Vidya Balan

“There was a time I used to take these negative criticisms very seriously. I was killing myself over losing weight. I would work out like crazy, starve myself and go on all kinds of weird diets. Yes, I would lose some weight but all that starving would leave me feeling very unhappy and drained. Worse, eventually I would regain that weight and that would make me more miserable. It had become a vicious cycle. Slowly, I realised that there is a body structure that I can’t fight, and I better embrace it. I began to feel comfortable in my weight. Today I do not consider it a ‘weight problem’. I think fitness is more important. Who decides what is desirable? We have begun to pigeonhole beauty, sexuality and desirability.”

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Ileana Dcruz

Ileana Druz has been vocal about her battle with Body Dysmorphic and depression for being picked on her body type. In an interview, the diva opened about her body type. She said, 

"I don't have an 'awkward' body. Nobody does. I have been criticised for my body type, but I am trying to learn to love myself for who I am and not try to conform to someone else's ideals."

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