We know who you were in high school. You were the girl who could eat anything and not gain weight. You were in sports so you worked out all the time so it didn't matter what you ate. You lived at home so your meals were nutritious without you really knowing. Now, you're in college, on your own.

I was an athlete in high school, I was always active and my mother made sure that my meals were fruit, veggies and protein. I was a size two but I never focused on my size. Then I came to college. I lived on mac and cheese and the dining hall with fried food galore.

I remember the day I got my first stretch mark. I cried & cried for hours. I thought that my body was ruined and my life was over. I felt like my body betrayed me.

Stretch marks weren't for 19-year-olds, they were for moms who were pregnant right?

Wrong.

Ladies, it is completely natural to get stretch marks. When you really think about it, it is quite beautiful. Your body came into this world without a mark. You have lived. Say it with me, "I have lived." It is a part of life, just like a scar or a mole. Run your fingers over that stretch mark and actually feel that skin. It's really kind of cool.

I have dealt with my body image all of my life. I have always thought that I was the fat friend, but that was how it was. I was always the taller friend, which made me feel like the bigger friend. Looking back at pictures I was a beautiful girl. I would love nothing more than to go back to the size I was in high school, but guess what? I am no longer a little girl; I am now a woman. I have a woman's body now and there is nothing wrong with that. I am learning to love my body how it is now and don't get me wrong it is a hard pill to swallow sometimes.

Some days I feel beautiful, curvy and on top of the world. Then there are other days when I want to cry because I feel so poorly about my body. It will always be something that I will struggle with but I am so much more accepting of the fact that I don't have to look like my high school self for the rest of my life. I used to avoid my hometown like the plague because I didn't want to run into an ex-classmate or someone who knew me in high school. I was afraid to see their stares or see if they were judging when in reality the only one who was judging me, was me.

The first step to being all around happy is being happy with yourself. You have to accept yourself which includes loving your body. Everyone is wanting to change something about their body, nobody, I repeat nobody is 100 percent satisfactory with their body and if they say there are, well, then, they are lying. I go to Wal-Mart and I see a woman walk past me and I think to myself, "Wow, I wish I looked like her." and some woman may look at me and think the same thing. I spent so many time looking at magazines, commercials and seeing these women looking so flawless and while I know in my head that this is Photoshop, it just messes with your head that this is what men want and I have to look like this to be loved. Well, guess what?

I am loved by my family, my friends and my boyfriend for who I am. My boyfriend even met me when I was a size two and here I am a size 10 and he is still with me, loving me. I do not look like a Victoria's Secret Angel, and I most likely never will, but I get the love and support for how I look and am by those who matter: myself and my loved ones.

So ladies, please stop stressing over those stretch marks, stop thinking that you have to be same size you were in high school for the rest of your life because trust me, once you accept that I promise your outlook on life will improve.