Being and feeling big, fat, or overweight your whole is hard. It is hard on yourself physically, mentally and especially emotionally. The worst part is that it is usually the only thing that you see about yourself and even worse what others see. It eventually becomes your whole life. You sit around wishing you could feel beautiful, sure people (mainly family and friends) may tell you otherwise but until you believe it, the words are meaningless. You turn to food for comfort but it only adds to the sadness. Going clothes shopping becomes a chore, as you have to come to terms with the fact that the shirt on the hanger looks better on just that, the hanger. It is discouraging at first but after a while, it becomes your life. Looking in the mirrors in the changing room becomes hard, you try to avoid them but it is always there to put yourself on display. IT is hard to live in a world where there are such high standards and expectations on how a person should look. It is just not realistic or healthy. Walking past the Juniors and Petite section in a store is hard too, seeing the people who can fit in those sizes is soul-crushing. You wish you could shop in that section too.

For the longest time, I felt this way. Imagine feeling like you are ugly and fat your whole life. Food became my source of comfort. I played sports but I was still the biggest and slowest girl on the team and the one who was never chosen first. I thought so little of myself. It didn’t help that the people around me were skinner and prettier then I was. I wanted to be them. It took me 23 years to do something about it. I finally realized that I am beautiful. I am a size 10 and damn proud of it! I rock my outfits. I shop with confidence. I may not be super skinny but you know what? I am amazing and love myself just the way I am! I feel beautiful and worthy. Being stick thin is no longer a dream of mine because I actually feel good in the body that I am in.

Be proud of how you look and feel. Enjoy your life and never worry about what others may think of you. Life is too short to care about their opinions. Embrace your body and love it!