Posts tagged positive body image
StopHatingYourBody
On a mission to live a body positive life
Every year, my college has an event called “Undie Run”. Basically it’s to donate clothes and you where clothes that you want to donate and then you strip down to your undies and run around campus. It is so much fun and I am so glad I did it. I wasn’t going to originally because I was afraid people were gonna judge my body but it was amazing and completely empowering. Everyday I am working to love myself for all that I am and that includes my body! This is just one step closer.
Curves On Girls Tutorial by *ai-bee
This tutorial helped me expand the body types I draw—and in effect helped me love my own body! Now I’m happier with both how I look and how I draw :)
![Hi, my name is Rachael. I am eighteen, from the UK. [Poss trigger warning-eating disorders]
I’m being a bit lazy about the photo, it doesn’t exactly fit the blog rules, but I wanted to put my story with a picture that is recent. I’ll explain why.
I’ve had a long struggle being comfortable with how I look. I can remember it starting in year five, or when I was about nine. Girls would talk about make up, and what their mum’s would wear and things they’d read in magazines, but I had no clue what any of that was! I was never girly, and can now proudly identify as a weird kid, for good reason.
At eleven, I entered secondary school, and my body confidence went down fast, surrounded by girls who had make up and knew how to be fashionable. I had started a paper round, and with my new wage packet, I’d splash out on so much chocolate, I’d often never have money left the same day I got paid. I also was trusted to buy my own dinners at school, which meant three packets of M&M’s a day too. It wasn’t healthy, and I can see now it was comfort eating more than anything. Before that point, my parents had kept me away from chocolate, and I was fine with it being a rare treat, but as I began to feel worse, over indulging made me feel better.
Through secondary, I went through several phases with my overall “look”. After a few months of being hippy, I became a fully fledged Goth and started dressing appropriately. My entire wardrobe was black; I had nothing that had any colour whatsoever. Looking back I can realise now that the reason I felt comfortable doing so, was because I was trying to hide behind it.
As I went through school and entered college, my diet got much worse, and I wasn’t doing any form of exercise. The paper round had stopped after two years, because I had too much school work. The school work meant I never really got a chance to exercise. Not going out meant easy access to the fridge. It was a vicious cycle. It hardly helped that my college was literally thirty seconds away from a Spar shop, so lunchtimes were feasts of everything unhealthy.
However, the Gothic phase began to disappear as I met my lovely friends, and my confidence began to grow. I still wouldn’t wear colour, and my hair had been dyed black for a year before I finally worked up the courage to buy a dress. Before that, I never wore skirts, ever, and any I had were no shorter than ankle length. I was still hiding. Wearing the dress made me feel pretty, so I chanced it, and got a lot of compliments. But then it disappeared into the back of my wardrobe, and I didn’t wear it for a long time. My weight still made me feel that I had to hide, and anything that got me noticed, like pretty dresses was bad.
Now, I am at university. I have moved out of my home, and into a new place, looking after myself fully for the first time. No mum to cook healthy stuff for me, or to get me up in the morning. I began to realise that the one responsible for me, was me. I’m still not eating healthily, but I’m getting better, or trying. I’ve also resolved to get fitter over the summer, and enjoy the sun while it lasts. No more being stuck at a computer for days on end. If I have a bad day where I do feel uncomfortable in my own skin, I have a set of songs that I listen to. They’re linked in my mind to the times where I felt absolutely gorgeous, and when I hear them, they bring that feeling right back again. However, the biggest change for me was the sudden arrival of cheap shops, and the sudden epiphany that I liked wearing colourful things! Now, I do wear what I want, and I am proud to say that I haven’t bought anything black in over a year. That’s why I wanted this picture as my submission.
That’s me, in my favourite cardigan that isn’t black and my first pair of jeans that aren’t black. I’m proud of how I look there, I’m proud of how happy I look. This made me realise that my body is the only one I’m going to get. It doesn’t matter what size it is, as long as it works, and to keep it working, I have to treat it right. Healthy food, and as much love as I can possibly give it from now on, and that’s all that matters.
No more hiding.
BE BRAVE! JOIN THE BODY PEACE REVOLUTION!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/d24f3e5726697bb1cab6b7ef45d55015/tumblr_mmlu19SJT71qen4sno1_500.jpg)
Hi, my name is Rachael. I am eighteen, from the UK. [Poss trigger warning-eating disorders]
I’m being a bit lazy about the photo, it doesn’t exactly fit the blog rules, but I wanted to put my story with a picture that is recent. I’ll explain why.
I’ve had a long struggle being comfortable with how I look. I can remember it starting in year five, or when I was about nine. Girls would talk about make up, and what their mum’s would wear and things they’d read in magazines, but I had no clue what any of that was! I was never girly, and can now proudly identify as a weird kid, for good reason.
At eleven, I entered secondary school, and my body confidence went down fast, surrounded by girls who had make up and knew how to be fashionable. I had started a paper round, and with my new wage packet, I’d splash out on so much chocolate, I’d often never have money left the same day I got paid. I also was trusted to buy my own dinners at school, which meant three packets of M&M’s a day too. It wasn’t healthy, and I can see now it was comfort eating more than anything. Before that point, my parents had kept me away from chocolate, and I was fine with it being a rare treat, but as I began to feel worse, over indulging made me feel better.
Through secondary, I went through several phases with my overall “look”. After a few months of being hippy, I became a fully fledged Goth and started dressing appropriately. My entire wardrobe was black; I had nothing that had any colour whatsoever. Looking back I can realise now that the reason I felt comfortable doing so, was because I was trying to hide behind it.
As I went through school and entered college, my diet got much worse, and I wasn’t doing any form of exercise. The paper round had stopped after two years, because I had too much school work. The school work meant I never really got a chance to exercise. Not going out meant easy access to the fridge. It was a vicious cycle. It hardly helped that my college was literally thirty seconds away from a Spar shop, so lunchtimes were feasts of everything unhealthy.
However, the Gothic phase began to disappear as I met my lovely friends, and my confidence began to grow. I still wouldn’t wear colour, and my hair had been dyed black for a year before I finally worked up the courage to buy a dress. Before that, I never wore skirts, ever, and any I had were no shorter than ankle length. I was still hiding. Wearing the dress made me feel pretty, so I chanced it, and got a lot of compliments. But then it disappeared into the back of my wardrobe, and I didn’t wear it for a long time. My weight still made me feel that I had to hide, and anything that got me noticed, like pretty dresses was bad.
Now, I am at university. I have moved out of my home, and into a new place, looking after myself fully for the first time. No mum to cook healthy stuff for me, or to get me up in the morning. I began to realise that the one responsible for me, was me. I’m still not eating healthily, but I’m getting better, or trying. I’ve also resolved to get fitter over the summer, and enjoy the sun while it lasts. No more being stuck at a computer for days on end. If I have a bad day where I do feel uncomfortable in my own skin, I have a set of songs that I listen to. They’re linked in my mind to the times where I felt absolutely gorgeous, and when I hear them, they bring that feeling right back again. However, the biggest change for me was the sudden arrival of cheap shops, and the sudden epiphany that I liked wearing colourful things! Now, I do wear what I want, and I am proud to say that I haven’t bought anything black in over a year. That’s why I wanted this picture as my submission.
That’s me, in my favourite cardigan that isn’t black and my first pair of jeans that aren’t black. I’m proud of how I look there, I’m proud of how happy I look. This made me realise that my body is the only one I’m going to get. It doesn’t matter what size it is, as long as it works, and to keep it working, I have to treat it right. Healthy food, and as much love as I can possibly give it from now on, and that’s all that matters.
No more hiding.
TW: Depression
I’ve struggled with severe mental health issues my whole life. When I was fourteen years old I “slipped” into a clinical depression that lasted for two years. I would talk more about that time in my life, but to be honest, I don’t remember much of it. My doctor said something about my brain being in a different state and that if I was ever clinically depressed again (unlikely) I would remember things from my first depression and not remember things from before/after it.
I lost so much weight while depressed. I couldn’t eat, I would get so incredibly nauseous. On a good day I would be able to choke down crackers and peanut butter. My weight went down to 110 lbs. I am 5’6.5” and for me that was a really unhealthy weight.
I eventually got onto a medicine that was supposed to help me gain weight (because no nausea meant eating, which meant more energy and less depression, etc.) and I quickly got a bottomless pit for a stomach. I wasn’t only not-nauseous, I was HUNGRY. I ate and ate and ate, I didn’t know how to stop myself. My weight ballooned out of control. In a matter of a few months I had gained 50 lbs. I was unhappy with the way I looked, my body had felt foreign when I was underweight and all of a sudden my body felt foreign because I weighed more than I ever had in my life. I had a love/hate relationship with clothing. Things that I loved from a few months ago made me feel bloated and unhappy. I wore t-shirts and jeans and had to shop for new bras (which I hated).
I eventually started feeling better emotionally. My depression finally lifted and I was having hope for the first time in a long time. I started walking everyday, just for a little bit at first, then for longer amounts of time. I started making sure the things I ate I ate in moderation. Eventually I was at a weight that made me feel secure in myself.
To this day I have to calm myself down at times because I freak out about gaining a lot of weight really quickly over silly little things. It is just some of the baggage that I carry around with me that I have had to learn to accept. I am more than my weight. My weight is not a sure thing, but that is okay. No matter what I weigh now I am happy that I am able to enjoy life. That in itself means more than numbers on a scale could ever mean to me.
-Lena, 20, thefemmegasm.tumblr.com
I have hated a lot of things about myself. I still do sort of…
but screw it. I’m hairy, I have tons of crevices, scars, bumps, and humps. I have scrawny areas and fat areas.
I’m like one of those tea pots that the more damaged they are, the more beautiful they become. Because being yourself gives you character and uniqueness. Don’t conform unless you really want to. Try to love yourself. Lets go through this journey of selflove together each day of our lives.
Hi guys! My name is Makena and I am 18 years old!
I have been posting on SHYB since I started recovery for my bulimia with anorexic tendencies almost two years ago. I know the top picture looks like a before-and-after of my weight, but it’s not! The picture on the left is one of the first pictures I submitted of myself to SHYB, back in 2011. I was still in the midst of my eating disorder and very much struggling with my self-image. As you can see, I was too embarrassed to wear a bikini. Whenever I see that photo on the left, I see a very unhappy girl with zero confidence. I hated my legs and I thought I had a very chubby stomach. Now in the photo on the right, after nearly two years of recovery with much love and support, I see someone totally different! I see a girl that—can you believe it—was excited to wear a bikini to the beach, and not just wear it, but take pictures! I am just truly proud of all the positive changes and progress I have made in my life: I work out at least 4x a week and keep track of my nutrition (not calories). I actually am starting to love my body and I am learning more every day how to treat it with the respect it deserves.
Also, I just wanted to say, in August I will be one year purge-free!!:))
Anyways, thanks for reading this! If anyone ever wants to talk sometime, message me here!
TRIGGER WARNING/TW: Mental/Psychological Disorders/Suicidal Thoughts/Abuse.
I was really inspired to post a picture here. This blog is incredible.
I’ve always been the bigger girl all my life. I grew up with a mom who couldn’t afford food that was nutritious, healthy, the like. I grew up eating whatever was around. Traditionally, junk. So, it’s rather embodied in my brain that eating is a way of comfort, to never eat the right things, drink the right things, make choices, live with them. It’s hard to break out of, this we all know. I didn’t have the best childhood, no father in the picture, I suppose he was disgusted and just high tailed and left, and my mother put me through 8 years of mental torment, constantly calling me fat in front of her friends, laughing at me, calling me a whore and a bitch.
Now I am 20 years old. No longer with my mother, my grandparents took the best of care of me, well. As much as they could.
At the age of 16 I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Type 1. I suffer deep, deep depressions, I have been in one for 12 years. Small periods of high intense mania. Strong impulses, to shop, steal, use, lie, cheat, and eat.
But. I am high above those impulses. I am not letting my disorder define who I am. I am not letting my weight define who I am. I am a smart girl, who is artistic, lovely, incredible, and above all. Brave. To not succumb to suicide. To not go back to the Psychiatric Hospital. To not look at her arms and wrists and feel the urge, the stinging pain and succumb to it. No, I am not that person anymore.
I love this life I live. I love to wake up and look outside my window and see the light blue through my curtains and just know that another night has went and gone where I am still alive and breathing.
Today is going to be a good day.
I’m being brave again and submitting this because I looked at it and thought I like how my body looks. This is huge. I NEVER think that. I have gained a lot of weight and at my highest weight ever, and I am constantly at war with my body. I have suffered from eating disorders for three years, and have had terrible, horrible, non-existant self esteem for even longer. Maybe it’s just the lighting and the way I’m standing, but I actually like how I look here. Taking pictures of my body helps me to see it the way it really is and not the distorted way I see it daily in the mirror. I think the human body is a beautiful thing and is not something to be ashamed of in any way shape or form. And I’m not ashamed of my body for this one moment. I am scarred and I have thick thighs that touch and a lower belly pooch and small boobs, and thats okay. I’m still beautiful how I am. My body is mine and I need to accept it. And if I can accept it in this photo and share that acceptance with all of you, that is a step in the right direction.
I never thought I would see myself in a bikini ever again, but that’s essentially what I’m wearing- a bikini. And it’s clothing that I feel proud and comfortable to wear, even after all this time.
I submitted a photo a year back when I was trying to deal with weight gain that came with recovery from anorexia. I was still incredibly insecure, but I felt that sharing my body and trying to become more comfortable with it might help me overcome my insecurities. One year and lots of hard work later, I finally feel like I’m at a place where I can be happy with myself, inside and out.
It’s still a lot of work and I have days where I feel like I’m relapsing, only to challenge my disordered thoughts and manage to find myself stronger in the end. I know that I’m almost there, and not being able to exercise due to an injury won’t stop me from recovering. The last step in my recovery is learning to be okay with myself without feeling the need to exercise, and I’m surviving it one day at a time. It’s been almost two months since my last workout, but I’m still on the road to recovery— it may be slower than before, but I’m still going.
I think my final message to everybody is that you’re beautiful, even if you don’t think that you are. Loving yourself doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s going to be a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. You’re worth it. You are beautiful and loved, and all those people who love you will continue to love you +/- 20lbs, I promise you that.
The first step is learning to love yourself, and freeing yourself from the restraints, whether it be internal or external. You only live once, so let your life revolve around happy moments and exciting things rather than your body because it doesn’t- and never will- define your worth.
Feel free to message me at livelaughrecover.
I finally got myself to submit a picture and I’m happy I did. It shows I’m totally fine with the way I look, even after all the things I went through.
Got bullied on for 4 years in primary school because of my weight and when it stopped at school, it started to last for another 4 years when I joined girl scouts. When I couldn’t handle it anymore and quit being a girl scout, which made an end to my dream of becoming a girl scout leader. Not being bullied anymore was a relief, but the chance of being bullied on again would always be there.
When I went to high school, nothing happened. That’s when I started to accept the way I looked like. But outside of school, I always felt like everyone was judging me even if they weren’t. I never really felt in place with all these good looking people around me, who all had boyfriends and were able to wear whatever they liked without being judged. I realized I still didn’t feel good about myself.
And then, age 22, I met a guy who made me feel the most beautiful girl in the world. It took me a while to get comfortable being naked in front of him, but once I did, I wished I would’ve done it sooner. He literally changed my world by telling me I’m beautiful and I started to love the way I look.
That’s why I chose this outfit to surprise him on our 6 months anniversary. I know he’s going to like it as much as I do.
I’ve never been particularly ‘at ease’ with my body, ever since I was a child. I found it harder as I grew up because my mother would constantly hug me and tell me I was anorexic or too skinny, even though when I stared in the mirror all I could see was too much fat. It left me feeling distorted and angry, and It resulted in me self harming, and starving myself, and putting my body through too much. Eventually, I had friends who couldn’t stand it any more, and made me face up to what I was doing to myself, and gradually with their help, i’ve started to appreciate what I see in the mirror, and i’ve stopped distorting the image. I eat healthily with my friends, who give me guidance and advice on how to do it healthily and not dangerously. I still have bad days, where I can’t stand to see myself, but I don’t look at photos of me and grimace. I want this to stay, as long as possible, because I would prefer to feel happy and healthy than to feel weak and scared, like I used to.
This is my body, and it is beautiful. I will put whatever accessories or clothing on my body because I’m worth it, and because I can rock it. I’m done feeling like my body is a cage, I’m done taking ridicule from society, and I’m done thinking that I’m too “fat” for cute clothes and showing off my skin. So now I will, because it’s my beautiful skin. They are my beautiful thighs, they are my beautiful stretch marks. I have spent countless hours crying over them and thinking that they’re “ugly,” but I matured beyond that when I found the problem wasn’t me, it was the image I had in my head of “beautiful.” I know some of my decisions are unhealthy, I know that sometimes I put toxic things in my body, but those are my choices, I know what i’m doing with my body, and I can deal with the consequences. I believe that I am a beautiful, worthy human being and so are all of you lovelies. I spent way too long thinking that I wasn’t good enough because of my weight, because people didn’t think I was beautiful because I’m not society’s image of flawless beauty. But you know what? Now I wouldn’t even want to be that, sure they may look good in magazines, but those people aren’t real. I’m real, and I’m a brilliant, kind person (not to toot my own horn) and I deserve love and respect. If you don’t like me because I’m not supermodel thin or magazine flawless, then tough titty because I am amazing and you will never have the opportunity to see that. Sometimes I still feel insecure, and sometimes words do hurt. But I realize now that that’s what got me down in the first place, and I’ll be damned if I’m ever gonna let that happen again. Love your body. Love yourself. I know I will.
A good friend is someone who stays by your side, even in hard times.
A good friend is someone who respect you, even if he has an other oppinion as you.
A good friend is also someone who protects you.
And if you have really luck, a friend shares your love for the same things as you.
My tummy is this kind of friend to me.
He is always there and we share our love to good food.
We haven´t always the same opinion and there still are days, when my brain tells me that I have to eat a lot more than I really want or to eat nothing for a very long time and sometimes I can´t resist to do what my brain tells me (even if I know, that this part of my brain is totally wrong!) but the most of the time my tummy and I work together, we are still getting better and better - and we are happy about this.
I still want to lose some weight, but I learn to love me how I look right now.
And if I want to eat some cake, cookies or something like that, I just do it.
My tummy and I are totally okay with that.
We love each other, like real friends. :)
BE BRAVE! JOIN THE BODY PEACE REVOLUTION!
I feel the need to address this complex that is more than apparent when it comes to issues regarding women and: makeup, clothing and weight.
The “MEN PREFER WOMEN …” complex (not the official title).
Some how in a discussion people bring everything back round to a male perspective - “Why is she trying to lose weight? Everyone knows MEN PREFER WOMEN with curves!” Which can be as easily transferred to ‘Why is she wearing that much makeup…” “That little clothing…” And so on. It is a common belief that the only factor that dictates what decisions a woman makes to or with her body are based on a man’s opinion.
I’m more than certain that at some point I’ve implied that, if not thought it. I’m sure everyone has. It’s one of the things you don’t usually think twice about. But, once you realise the error in what you’re implying and the effect it has you are half way to bettering your attitudes to others as well as yourself.
You need to realise that you are not a preference. You are the only person who dictates how you look, what you wear and how much you weigh.
Hi, I’m Ember. I have short legs, and a long torso. I have small tits, and a squishy tummy. I have big thighs, and a little bubble but. I have a round face, and the chubbiest cheeks out of anyone I know. I’m not going to lie, and say I love my body. Because I don’t. I’m learning to love myself the way I am. I don’t care about what size clothes I wear anymore. I’m tired of crying every time I go in the dressing room. Day by day, I’m getting closer to loving myself just the way I am, and not trying to change a damn thing.
So, hi. I’m Ember, I’m 16. 5’5”. 138lbs. And I have the best music taste in the world! Confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can posses.
Body positive, bitches!!
