Dear body,

It's time we sat down and had a serious conversation because there are a few things that I just wanted to say. First, I just wanted to apologize to you for all of the times I have hated you for how you're not. I'm so sorry that I spent years comparing how you look to how models in magazines or how my friends who were skinnier looked. That was wrong and uncalled for. It took me years to realize this, but every body is different, and I should not compare what you look like to what any other body looks like. That's incredibly unhealthy and only served to make the way I felt about you worse.

From now on, I promise to wholeheartedly love you for how you are, instead of how you aren't.

That means taking the time to eat the kinds of food that I know will serve as good fuel — and in the right amounts, too. I know that because of that period of time where I would starve and then binge, I wrecked the metabolism that you had, but I promise to work hard each day to make sure I'm eating the right amount for you. Three meals a day with one small snack is the goal that I'm setting, and I promise to do everything I can to reach that goal daily.

It's time that I stop shopping in stores that I know don't have the kinds of clothes that make you feel confident or even sexy, and I know that my wallet will thank me for that, too. There is no reason why I should spend my hard-earned money in any store that doesn't carry my size, because that just leads to feelings of worthlessness and depression. There is no reason why I – or anyone else — should feel worthless after leaving a clothing store.

We are all worthy of feeling beautiful and confident in whatever clothing we choose to put on our bodies.

Most of all, I promise to stop degrading and belittling you when I find that the clothes that used to fit just don't anymore.

It's not fair to you to shame and berate you for growing, because, with a healthier lifestyle, the extra weight can come off. There's no need to talk down to you, because after all, you're a body, and you're just doing your best to keep me alive in this crazy world that we live in. So, I promise to work harder to love you for everything that you do, and not hate you for what you don't.