Body Acceptance

All my life, I’ve been overweight. I remember the fat jokes starting as early as elementary school. Now, at 29, and still to this day (20 something years later), the ridicule still rears its ugly head. Sometimes it’s lightly joking. Sometimes it’s just rude remarks from passerby’s. Sometimes it’s just a blatant comment so hurtful they may as well have just stabbed me with a knife. I’ve tried every diet known to mankind. It’s not like I chose to be fat, but here I am. Fat and happy to be here.

I’ve just recently discovered a growing circle of body positivity bloggers, and I really must say, those chicks are BAD. ASS. I assumed I would probably hate myself until I eventually died, but after many days and hours of reading all kinds of different stories, and really relating to these powerful women, something inside of me ignited. I realized that I didn’t HAVE to hate myself for forever. I realized it IS possible to love (or at least tolerate) the skin you’re in. I’ll be the first to tell you, it isn’t easy. I still have days where i look in the mirror and hate what I see looking back at me. But it isn’t every day. And if you’re anything like me, that’s a major accomplishment.

After hopping on the body positivity train, I knew my first step was to literally train myself. I read countless books, blogs, stories, you name it. The more I related to these stories, the less alone I felt. The less alone I felt, the better I started to feel. All I knew was that I desperately needed and wanted to be a part of this movement. At first, it was really just to help myself. But then I figured, why stop there?

While sadly I don’t have a special potion to make you instantly fall in love with yourself, I do have a few tips on how you can start to get there. You can start by picking out something you do actually like about yourself, and focus on that. Then pick something else on your body, and focus on that. Get into the habit of reminding yourself daily to stop putting yourself down, and start picking your sorry ass back up. Catch yourself putting yourself down, and flip it. If you realize you’re in the mirror about to start to get ready for your day, and are saying to yourself, “Why do I even bother, I’m just going to be ugly anyway.” Stop right there. Then do the flip. Try saying, “Today is your day, and this lipstick is gonna make you kill it All. Day. Long.”

Be creepy and talk yourself up in the mirror. Repeatedly tell yourself that you’re a human, and you ARE worth it. You’re worth all the time and space you put out there. Just because you aren’t a size 2 doesn’t mean you aren’t a somebody. The more you tell yourself these things, the more you’ll start to believe it. I know, It might sound ridiculous, but try it out. When I first started on this journey, I literally laughed out loud when I was told to try things like that. So if you’re laughing right now, I get it. But for real, just do it. Write something nice to yourself on your mirror or send yourself a reminder about what an absolute badass babe you are.

Always know that you are not alone, and people will love you no matter what size or shape you are. A number on a scale doesn’t define who you are as a person, you beautiful human, you. Represent what’s inside of you. Don’t shy away from the world because you’re afraid of getting hurt, show the world what amazing things you have to offer it. Be bold, be strong, be fierce, be you.