I've never had an eating disorder.

Although I can't say I've never thought about it.

I don't eat salad.

Diets can be unrealistic or end up making you gain even more weight when it's over.

I've never had a baby.

I'm only twenty-two.

And I weigh well over 125 pounds.

There are mothers who weigh less than me, and women twice my age.

To say it's discouraging,

wouldn't cover half of it.

It's easy to say "I love who I am, and weight doesn't matter."

But deep down, if we're honest,

every. single. one. of us has experienced some sort of discomfort with our weight.

Girls who are skinny,

mom's with excess body weight,

guys with a beer belly.

We all feel it.

And I'm not here to encourage or discourage anyone.

But to say I hear you, and I've felt it too.

Maybe not in the same way, but I have.

I'm tired of living in a world where we are saying we're accepting of ALL sizes, and yet "thick" still ends up being "slim thick."

Having curves still means having a "small waste."

We promote being bigger than a size zero, but only up to a size four.

And it's discouraging.

When the trend is wearing a crop top, it sucks not having the stomach for one.

When the style is yoga pants, but yoga pants cling way too tight to your thighs, it's discouraging to not have a thigh gap.

Especially when you're young.

When you're at your peak,

and you're supposed to be at your "best."

And there are options, so many.

But I think it's okay to be a little upset.

To be a little discouraged, and say "I don't like this."

I'm not where I would like to be. I'm not looking the way I would like to look.

And that's okay.

I'm not, and maybe you're not.

And I think for me one of the first things that need to happen is getting that expectation out of our head.

Yeah, you're not the girl with the thigh gap or the guy with the six-pack.

And be upset if you need to, but realize that being upset and hard on yourself will never ever change the way you look.

And hurting yourself, and abusing your body won't either.

In fact, it could make it worse.

Because you might feel that big thighs aren't cute,

but rib cages sure aren't attractive.

And the shame, or the guilt,

none of that is any healthier.

You can be upset, and even cry about it if you need to.

I sure have.

But you aren't alone. At all.

And we all hate at least one thing about ourselves and our bodies.

It's a constant struggle, and comparison.

We're young, and well over the weight, we'd like to be.

It hurts.

So what do we do?

We change the mindset that a smaller weight is somehow better, or more attractive.