124. Gray Hairs, Beauty Standards, and Owning Our Awesomeness: Unpacking Beauty Standards in 2025

Gray hairs with attitude, body image trolls, and the absurd pressure to look perfect—yeah, we’re going there today.

In this episode, we were having a casual, off-line conversation about beauty, aging, and societal pressures when we thought — hey, this is too good not to share! Inspired by Nelly Furtado’s candid post on body neutrality, we dive into the absurdity of beauty standards. From tweezing gray hairs to handling unsolicited advice about makeup, we explore the unrelenting pressure women face to “look the part” at every age. Spoiler alert: even people in the pictures don’t look like that!

Even though we don’t live in a society that celebrates aging, it’s not all heavy—we keep it real and funny as we tackle topics like diet culture, body criticism, and how women often unintentionally reinforce these unrealistic ideals. We also dish out three actionable ways to break the cycle and show up for each other with love, not judgment.

In this episode:

• Nelly Furtado’s refreshing take on body neutrality
• Maria’s war with her gray hairs (and why they seem to have superpowers)
• How social media magnifies beauty pressure (and makes us overthink everything)
• Tara’s take on bodybuilders who peak for just three hours and still dominate Instagram
• The subtle ways we bash ourselves (and how to STOP IT)

This episode is brought to you by the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. Learn more there:  https://annapolissymphony.org/

 

Let’s connect and keep the conversation going!

 

Elizabeth Harris, MS, RDN, LDN

FB: Health and Healing with Intuitive Eating community

https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthandhealingwithintuitiveeating

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ElizabethHarrisNutrition

Free download to break up with diet culture: https://elizabethharrisnutrition.com/invisible-diet

 

Tara De Leon, Master Personal Trainer

Email: FitnessTrainer19@hotmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tara_de_leon_fitness

 

Maria Winters, LCPC, NCC

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coaching_therapist/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/MWcoachingtherapy

Website: www.thecoachingtherapist.com

Attend an Emotional Fitness Studio Class: https://thecoachingtherapist.com/emotional-fitness-studio/