This is a place of encouragement, a place to talk about body image, a place for feeling beautiful. No matter what you look like, what color, what gender, what size or however many "flaws", healthy, not healthy, working on it, we are all human, we all deserve to be happy, we all deserve to love ourselves. With this blog you will see all kinds of REAL bodies, REAL people, REAL stories.
-PLEASE READ FAQ before messaging
-BE AWARE some posts may be triggering depending on submissions, check for trigger warnings and tags. Also any harassment will be met with blocking and a report to Tumblr Support
- How can you promote/tell people it’s okay being overweight/underweight? It’s not healthy!!
THIS BLOG IS PRO-HEALTH, but it’s not ABOUT health. It is about promoting positive self-esteem; mental health.
We would like you to take as much care for yourself as possible! Of course! It’s part of loving yourself; caring about yourself.
This blog is about loving your body wherever you are in life, healthy, not healthy, or working on it, you deserve to be body positive and never self-loathe.
a) SIZE-ISM: I understand that people have concerns about physical health in accordance to weight, but that does not justify criticizing, bullying, or shaming people for their bodies. If you are truly concerned that one is living an unhealthy lifestyle and it is showing, then show kindness, not judgment. I bring this up because there is constant scrutiny based on health, but I am here to say that one’s health or health lifestyle does not EVER justify bullying. I bring this up, because YES, some bodies you will see on this blog may and will be unhealthy, but that doesn’t give you the right to put them down. We are here to SUPPORT each other.
b) SHYB BLOG: I cannot emphasize enough that this is NOT a health blog, this is NOT a weight loss blog, this is a self-esteem blog, I am not a doctor, I am not equipped to answer personal questions about health, but hopefully I can be of some help in finding clarity about your body-image. So though, as a person, as Annie, I would hope that you are healthy and that you live a long and happy life, you are no less of a human being if you are unhealthy, whether it’s because of lifestyle choices or matters out of your control, you deserve respect, you deserve positive self-esteem.
c) BMI INVALIDATION: I will also respond with this. Being heavier, being skinnier, WEIGHT IN GENERAL is not a diagnosis of HEALTH. You cannot tell what health history one has just because of the way they look, and it is not your place to judge either.
Please refer to the BMI BULL tag for more information
We do not deny the existence of eating disorders and/or health problems due to weight, but it is not the case with everyone and it is not one’s duty to judge other people based on that either, no matter who you are you deserve confidence and to love yourself, and that may even HELP people in those conditions.
We also hope for best possible recovery for anyone suffering from health problems due to their weight/nutrition and/or eating disorders.
d) BODY POLICING: Even if a person has an extreme condition where it is apparent they are ill; a person’s health is also THEIR business, not yours. Who are you to decide what people should look like? Who are you to diagnose people on sight? Who are you to decide that they deserve less respect because they might possibly be ill? Who are you to try and bring shame to someone who is unwell anyay?
We come in all shapes and sizes. We are all beautiful.
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- Is it healthy if I…? I am [so and so] tall and weigh [so and so] is that okay?
See BMI is Invalid info above. Again, this is not a health blog. You should not be asking blogs for health advice anyway. Any health concerns you have you should ask a doctor, nutrition, or any other medical professional of choice.
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- If you don’t like your body, why don’t you just change it?
We’re not against changing your body. Your body is your canvas, we just want you to love yourself, part of loving yourself is taking care of yourself, being kind to yourself, not hurting yourself.
You can want to change your body, without hating yourself along the way. Life is too short, you could be gone tomorrow and you will have wasted so much precious time being stressed and miserable about the way you look, when it doesn’t have to matter so much.
A big point of this blog is for people to realize, they don’t HAVE to change. The idea of an “ideal beauty” has been driven into people’s brains. Making them ashamed of being unable to the achieve the unachievable; “perfection”.
This blog is about how there is no “perfect”. It’s okay to look like YOU. You can love yourself, you should love yourself, you should see all the beauty you have to offer.
The truth is; beauty is perceptive, and in that sense EVERYONE is beautiful. You are beautiful as long as you think so, and no one can tell you otherwise.
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- Is this blog only about size insecurity?
No; size is a very popular insecurity, but it’s not the only one. Although the current blog title is “Stop Hating Your Body” we are here to overcome any and all physical insecurities.
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- Do you believe only women have this issue of “hating” their body?
Certainly not. It’s not just women. Men have physical insecurities as well and they have always been welcome to submit, as well as any other gender identity. Everyone has insecurities, everyone is welcome to submit.
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- How do you feel about plastic surgery/changing your body?
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- She/he shouldn’t complain. I’d kill (for those curves/ to be that skinny/ for that face/to be that perfect, etc) They don’t know what it’s like to look like ME.
Another point of this blog is that no matter who you are, or what you look like, insecurities have found a way to eat you up, to make you feel less, to convince you that you are not good enough, pretty enough, that you are not beautiful.
We shouldn’t compare our pains. We shouldn’t judge. We have all been bitten by the insecurity bug, have overcome it, or are working on overcoming it, and we are here to support each other. Not smite out of jealousy, envy, or any anger/hate.
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- How do I submit a photo?
Click Submit link under Common Links (or just click the link right here)
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- Do you tag the submissions?
No, submitters tag their own submissions
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- I want to be a part of this and submit but I really don’t want to take a picture of myself in my underwear. Is there another way I can participate?
Although an underwear picture is preferred (unless you are under 18) you may of course submit another way.
If you are under age, or have other reasons for not wanting to pose in such a manner, then yes, of course, you can submit any picture or video or yourself as long as you express love for yourself, express your feelings about the revolution.
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- Can I submit anonymously?
Yes, just write at the top and bottom of your submission “ANONYMOUS POST” and I will arrange for it to be anonymous .
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- Thank you for the follow/making this blog.
You’re very welcome, but there are so many of these they may not all get posted, but they are received and appreciated, so thank you so much.
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- Do you promote?
Only Follow Fridays, there will a list of no more than 6 blogs (if you are one of the first 6 to ask that week, it will be posted, if not try again the following week) and a revolutionary of the day, a follower and perhaps recent submission.
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- When will my submission be up?
It depends on how many submissions we get, but so far, it could take up to a month before you see your post, some people miss it and then have difficulty finding it in the archive, so don’t put so much pressure on yourself to see your post. Think of it as putting a message in a bottle, if it finds it way back to you, then it does, but don’t put so much pressure on it 99.9% of submissions get posted, in fact, I have yet to decline one, people have been good so far about following rules.
I will contact you if something is wrong, otherwise, it will be posted.
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- When will I see that I am beautiful?
It’s different for everyone, this blog isn’t some kind of miracle. YOU have to do a lot of hard work in seeing yourself clearly and accepting your body. This does not mean you can’t ever change your body, but first things first, you have to realize that you are okay just as you are in appearance, and you could look like this for the rest of your life and find happiness and love. You can do it, no matter what you look like! Once you can feel beautiful no matter what, you can make a non-biased decision on whether or not you still want to change your body. Know that you don’t NEED to change what you look like to be happy, but if you can accept and be happy with the body you have currently, you’re set for life.
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- I look in the mirror and I feel fat and disgusting.
You need to ask yourself where this vocabulary came from. “Fat and disgusting”? They are NOT the same thing. Nothing about your body is disgusting. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Why are you so mean to yourself? You deserve so much better! When you catch yourself thinking negatively about yourself, shake it off, replace it with something positive. Give yourself a compliment even if you think it’s a lie at the moment. You have to retrain your brain to think positively, it’s A LOT of hard work, not easy at all, but take the challenge.
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- Content on this blog, I can’t help but compare, I get angry at girls who look better/who love themselves/who are happy with the way they look.
If you find that this blog is triggering, please do not follow it, and I hope that one day, you can join us.
If it is not so triggering, it is just a comparing issue please know that this blog is not an instant fix, you’re not just going to read some stories and all of a sudden be cured of your self-loathing. YOU have to do the work. Do not take out the anger you feel for yourself on other people, for that is really unjust. Stop comparing yourself to others or you will NEVER be satisfied with the way you look. Accept that you are a unique individual, you don’t have to have what “she/he” has in order to be beautiful. You are already. Don’t be jealous of others’ happiness, for you can be just as happy, you may not think that it’s in your control, but it is.
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- Any health related questions (including height/weight questions and ED questions)
This is not a health blog. I am not equipped to answer questions about health, nor do I think it is wise to ask a blogger (who you have know idea if their answer is truthful or valid) about health concerns. I am also not concerned with health when it comes to this blog. I mean, of course, as a person, I would hope that you all live long healthy lives and do your best to do so with a healthy lifestyle, but that’s not what this blog is about. This is about positive self-esteem and body image, no matter if you are healthy, not healthy, or working on it, I want you to feel good about what you see in your reflection, no matter what it shows you.
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- And to anyone who tries to say hurtful things about the members of this group:
LOL, do you HONESTLY think I care about what your rudeness has to say? Do you honestly think I would post that? Like “Oh, this is insulting the members of this group, I am going to subject them to it after I go through so much to try and protect them from it. (I know, I can’t, it’s impossible, but they are learning to mentally and emotionally shield themselves from it). I’m a dumb young woman, I’ll post it for everyone to see.” Don’t be stupid. Such a waste of time to write something insulting when it’s just going to be deleted and doesn’t even hurt my feelings, lol. I feel sorry for the angry soul, you can never be truly happy if you have to take time out to insult others for no reason.
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- What do you recommend for us trying to overcome our insecurities?
This is a very difficult process, it’s not like an off switch, it takes time.
Things that might help is to learn some truth, which is offered all over this blog from BMI Bullshit to Unachievable Photoshopped Beauty. Changing how you look outside is not going to necessarily make you happier, your life isn’t necessarily going to change. But by putting an end to self-loathing, self-disgust, and LOVING yourself, your whole life will change.
Once you’ve learned some truth, you learn to block certain poisons, get rid of the ones that you are able to. Some examples:
- When you see an ad on tv that says “Become sexy and hot in 90 days, finally have those BEAUTIFUL abs you’ve always dreamed of! This REALLY works!” — You will have the freedom to change the channel, because you KNOW you don’t NEED to look like that to be beautiful
- When a family member/friend/ANYONE, tells you that you should change what you physically look like— You can tell them you love yourself just the way you are, and you are sorry that they can’t see what you see. (Also, we DO have the power to CHOOSE our friends, and we rid ourselves of those that don’t lift us higher)
Then of course: Mirror Work. Practicing every day, telling yourself, reminding yourself that you are beautiful. Let this thought fill you up!
Beauty is not even a priority, it’s not important in order to enjoy life. And that’s the next part, show yourself how you can enjoy life, looking the way you look. Without changing anything about yourself physically, you can eat delicious foods, ride roller coasters, go to parks, museums, have picnics, cook, hang out with friends (GOOD friends, not poisonous ones), date, shop (for clothes that fit and flatter YOUR body), watch brilliant films, paint, sing at a karaoke (even you’re no good, lol).
Life is fun. It’s important that you have fun, that you laugh, and you love yourself.
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- Any videos that you recommend?
Here are just a few, be sure to check out Videos for more:
