I try very hard to come off as an outgoing, positive, and self-confident girl, but I have struggled with negative body issues for a long time. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon scenario for many women today, and it is an especially common theme among the young adult population. Even though our society has taken big strides, in the last few years, to be more accepting of all body types, the fact still remains that most people aren't satisfied with what they see in the mirror. With up to 30 million people in the United States suffering from an eating disorder right now, this is no minor issue. And while it's not just women who are affected, the risk of body dysmorphia and eating disorders is much higher in women than men, particularly teenagers and twenty-somethings.

My body-confidence hit an all time low in college. My first year of college, I learned the hard way that the freshman 15 was not a joke. I gained 10 pounds before my first semester was even over. As a 5’2″ curvy girl, that weight gain was more than obvious to me, and I was by far the heaviest I had ever been. When the year ended, I looked in the mirror, and I hated what I saw looking back at me. That hate drove me to make serious lifestyle changes and I am now, three years later, in the best and healthiest shape of my life. That being said, I'm still not completely satisfied with the way my body looks, and I'm not sure that I ever will be. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I have ever looked in the mirror and been truly content with how I look, and I certainly have never been happy with the number on the scale.

Given my body type, I know that I am virtually incapable of ever being skinny, or having mile long legs, or having the "perfect" proportions, but I still pine over unachievable and unrealistic goals because that is what I have been taught to admire, and that is what I've come to view as the right way to look.

Essentially, as far back as I can remember, I have dreamed of the day when I will wake up and look like Beyonce, and I have relentlessly struggled with thoughts of how I’m not good enough when I wake up and I still don't look like Beyonce. Once I got to college, those feelings only got worse. Being around so many confident, intelligent, beautiful women was a hard thing for me with which to deal with. I thought that all the new people I met would like me better if I was skinnier and I was convinced that other girls were happier than me because they were thinner, taller, or had better legs. I let those thoughts weigh me down and stop me from experiencing a lot of what college is all about (aka nights out with friends and late night Wawa visits and long talks over pizza.)

What I never realized was that so many of the girls that I was wasting time being jealous of felt just like me, as in they needed to improve their bodies in order to improve their self worth. Realizing that other people get down on their bodies the same way I do was a huge revelation for me. I have come to understand that regardless of how perfect you think someone else’s body is, there is a very strong possibility that they have things that they want to change and are just as critical about the way they look as you are on yourself.

We live in a world that keeps us surrounded by a constant stream of media content that tells us that there are certain ways a body should look, even though it is almost physically impossible to reach those standards without a personal trainer, stylist, nutritionist, makeup artist, and a lot of spare time on your hands -- not to mention an ungodly amount of Photoshop. Even Beyonce feels like she has to Photoshop a thigh gap, so clearly there is something wrong here. I have come to learn that what matters is that I am an intelligent and fun person with a lot more to offer than my body, and so are all the women around me. Just as personalities come in all shapes and sizes, so do bodies, so we need to start accepting that there is no "perfect" or "normal" body type, shape, or weight and start loving the bodies that we have. Our goals shouldn't focus on attaining the perfect body; they should be about living a healthy and happy lifestyle that makes you proud to be who you are.

Obviously, it’s easier said than done, but we have to stop comparing our bodies to what we think they should be and instead focus on being who we are as individuals with personalities and assets beyond what is on the outside. Whether you're naturally thin, curvy, tall, short, petite, pear-shaped, apple-shaped, or however else you may describe yourself, all body types are the right body types. While self-improvement is never a bad thing, and everyone should strive to be the best and healthiest version of themselves, we as a society need to start loving the bodies we are in because they’re the only ones we’ve got.

"People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder." Salma Hayek.