How many of you out there can successfully claim that you’ve felt like you’ve been on a diet your entire life, or the thought of being skinny has always lingered over you?

I’ve never been one of those skinny girls, and when I was younger, this used to haunt me. I had boobs and hips before I even made it to the fifth grade. I had always felt that my body shape was not good enough for me to be considered “a pretty girl.” Well, screw that. I’m not going to go into what a “pretty girl” is (that’s another rant in itself), but never let your body define who you are and how you see yourself. This is not at all about hating on girls who are thin or telling girls who have curves that they need to lose weight. This is me telling every girl out there to learn how to love your body no matter what shape you rock every day.

Being "skinny" needs to stop being a "thing."

If someone doesn’t like how you look, criticizes you, or makes you feel like you need to change for them, cut them out of your life. You don’t need that negativity around, but you could use and deserve someone who’s going to adore every inch of you. There will always be guys out there who like thinner, and guys who like thicker. Don’t hate, because it’s just like some of you out there who adore that “dad bod” or crave a full on six pack. Whatever your “type” may be, there’s something out there for everyone. This doesn’t mean that you can’t set goals for yourself if you’re wanting to make a change. I’m simply saying that I would love to see women stop hating themselves because their body doesn’t fit what society is more accepting of. Society, no offense, but screw you. My mom had a good friend growing up who was a tad on the heavier side but wore bikinis to the beach anyway. She used to tell my mom “hey, tan fat looks better than white fat” (girl so true). But what I think she was really trying to get across was that she wasn’t going to let her body or anyone’s views on her body get in the way of wearing what she wanted to wear and feeling good about herself! Your body should not restrict you from enjoying life, ever.

Set physical activity goals for yourself because you love your body, not because you hate it! This could be anything from starting to run once or twice a week, to finding a Crossfit or boxing gym that makes you feel invincible. I’m currently training for a half marathon, even though I was never a runner in high school. Setting goals for yourself like this will give you confidence and is giving you something to be proud of for yourself and your body. No one can take that from you! Self esteem doesn't always have to come from your looks, aka, aiming towards this "skinny" nonsense.

Once you come to the conclusion that you don’t need to be thin or skinny to feel worthy of anything, you’ll be surprised at how quickly joy will pour into your everyday life. So please don’t give up your happiness, energy and physical heath just to shed a few pounds and try and look a certain way because you feel society wants you to. It sounds cliche, but if you are serious about reaching a goal weight or fitting in to that dress hanging in your closet, go about it the right way. It’s the only way you’ll feel great doing it and keep it off in the end. Everyone's looks are so impermanent in the long run. Your body is going to change over time, so it’s time to accept it and learn to love it.

Some tips I love:

• Don’t weigh yourself, take your measurements! this way you can keep track of your bodies’ progress and the way it’s changing without feeling the pressure of meeting numbers on scale.
• Don’t go out to eat as a “social” outing. So many of us always want to go to lunch or dinner all the time with friends, so instead have people over and make dinner!
• Don’t give up those days where you eat too much pasta, fries, or drink three margaritas, just limit them! Pick one or two cheat days out of your week.
• Don’t skip meals, this is just going to slow down your metabolism, and make you even more hungry in the end. I try to make myself eat around 5-6 times a day (breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner).
• Don’t eat crazy late: get your last meal in by 8:30 at the latest, this gives your body time to break down your food before you go hibernate for however so many hours.
• Make yourself drink water! I am an actual diet coke addict, so in order to have the best of both worlds, I make sure I get in a ton of H2O throughout my day (especially when you first get up in the morning, this fires up your metabolism and helps flush your body of toxins!

So to the many fabulous women out there...please go do something you love to do, be really great at it and find someone who worships you...at that point in your life, you can take on the world!