I have struggled with my weight and body image for nearly as long as I can remember. I remember wearing a genie costume when I was in elementary school and you could see my tummy swelling out over the pants. I felt so self-conscious. I was eight. My coaches used to refer to me as stocky in middle school. As a result, I started chewing gum incessantly to curb my appetite in hopes of losing weight.

When I entered high school, I began lifting for sports. I didn't fall in love with the weight room, but I was fairly good at lifting so I kept at it. But I didn't develop muscles like the other girls did. They either gained ultra-lean muscle or toned, ripped muscles. I just gained brute muscle.

I was a runner ever since I began playing sports, but I could just never get as lean as the other girls. They were the stick thin runners, whereas I looked like I belonged in throwing field events.

But as I got older I realized that my body has enabled me to do so many different things. I may not have been razor thin, but I could outlift most girls in my school. My 'stocky' body helped me break the league record in my track event, as well as be the two-time league champion in my event. As we all got older, too, my curvy body became attractive in males' eyes.

The point is, your body changes as you get older. And so does your perception of it. And others'. At certain times in my life, I have coveted and worked tirelessly for the thin 'model' body we see everywhere. At other times, I loved my lean, strong body from lifting and playing sports. More recently, I came to love my body as slightly larger with softer edges. But when I was no longer happy with my lax approach to my appearance, I lost 15 pounds and became leaner again.

Don't ever let someone shame you for how you want your body to look. Whether your desired look is a few pounds or 50 pounds away, it is nobody else's business. If you want to be toned, do that. If you want to run three times a week and eat pizza and desserts when you feel like it, then you should do that. If you're still the same person inside, then the people who truly deserve to be in your life won't be bothered in the slightest by your struggle to find your ideal body for yourself.

There is no set body type for being mentally, emotionally, and physically happy and well. You may be happy being toned and working out six to seven days a week while also maintaining a diet for a year, then next year you may be more comfortable with yourself and your body exercising three to four days a week and eating what your body wants, when it wants it. As long as you are healthy and happy, then that is your ideal body. Regardless of what it used to be.