Plus size is completely subjective, however, society and clothing stores have deemed it to be anything past a size eight. I have no shame in telling the world that I am curvy, and shopping at a store that offers plus size and shopping at a plus size store are two completely different experiences. However, I digress and have learned to love my body with or without the help or approval of society and major clothing stores.
Loving yourself as a plus size woman isn't always easy. I grew up as a heavier kid, and a lot of children growing up were cruel. My classmates starting at age ten and all the way until I graduated high school made sure I was reminded of the fact that I was overweight. Gym class was especially the worst.
I had a substitute gym teacher for my class during my junior year for a solid month because my original teacher was on maternity leave. Not a day didn't go by that I didn't feel harassed for not being able to complete the weekly mile in a fast enough time, or when I would complain about being sore I would hear a tongue lashing. It felt like a failed system: I was given the tools to improve my health but the complete lack of guidance. So, I did what most who feel defeated do; I gave up.
As time went on, I fell further and further into a loophole of my own misery. Without knowing how to turn my health around, I just continued on the lifestyle I knew. Before I knew it, I was a hundred pounds heavier within five years of graduating high school. That was mostly from laziness, and another portion was not being educated enough on how to adjust my health.
I became in denial until one day I was diagnosed with being borderline diabetic. I don't mean the kind that I got from mom and dad, I mean the kind the doctor is furious with you type. I was mortified; twenty-four and being told I was in poor health all because of a decision I'd made. I said no more and did my research on pursuing a healthy diet.
Many pounds have been lost, and nights went on where I was starving. However, throughout all of this, I have learned that being curvy doesn't have to mean unhealthy. It is all about the life choices that I've made.
I am still a thick and proud plus sized woman, but I am much healthier physically and emotionally. I still hear the mocks and see some of the stares, but they honestly don't bother me anymore. It is all about health and not image that is most important.
