Disclaimer: This article is not intended to offend or upset anyone. It's intended to give plus-sized girls a self-esteem boost.

Everyone, everyone, should love themselves during all of their sizes in life. I know that it's not that easy. I know what it feels like to wake up and not love the way you look or feel. I know what it's like to have to go to a specific section of a store or a specific store to just find clothes that fit. But, coming from a family full of strong women of all shapes and sizes, I have been blessed to have grown up around such wonderful role models. My mom, her mom, and various cousins have all shown me that big can be and is beautiful and that there's nothing wrong with a little extra sugar around your hips. These women are some of the most beautiful women I know. Unfortunately, not every big girl grows up around such love and confidence, leading to warped ideals of body shape and eating habits.

There is nothing wrong with having a little extra meat on your bones. If you're happy and relatively healthy, then love yourself, because you deserve it. (PSA: big girls can be healthy despite their weight). As someone in my family once said, "Yellowstone is thousands of years overdue to explode, so I'm going to eat this chocolate bar and no one will judge me." You don't need to be skinny or fit to be beautiful. Every woman, of every size and shape, is beautiful and deserves to feel that way. All of your stretch marks are tiger stripes you've earned during your walk through life. All of your extra pounds are just more to love. Don't beat yourself up if you don't look like a model, because here's the thing: society has a really warped image of what's beautiful. There isn't one mold or standard for beautiful. In fact, the most common clothing size for women is now a size 16-18.

Even if you're a big girl who's got some health problems (and honestly, in this country who doesn't have a health problem?) you're still beautiful. If you want to work to shed some pounds, then go for it! But love yourself along the way.

Do not give anyone the pleasure and satisfaction of bringing you down over your weight. Do not let anyone tell you that you are not beautiful. It is okay to not love yourself some days, but remember that you always have to live with yourself, so you might as well start loving yourself.