Posts tagged skinny
StopHatingYourBody
On a mission to live a body positive life
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!
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.
Trigger Warning: Self Harm and Eating Disorders
My name’s Dana, and I am fifteen years old.
For a long time I’ve been insecure about my looks. Even as a young kid I would stand in front of the mirror and analyze every bit of my body. I just didn’t think I was beautiful. My eyes were too far apart, my nose too big, etc etc.
Then came high school. Along with the other pressures of high school life, like grades and friends, puberty brought along it’s own struggles. The former self esteem issues became magnified to the extreme. The self hatred started. I attempted suicide three times.
What you can’t see in this picture are the scars. The marks up and down my wrist, and zig-zagging over my hips. You also can’t see the tears over the number on the scale as I struggled with my weight. I’m 5’8”, and I was nearly down to 100 pounds. I’ve been fighting my self harm for two years now, and my anorexia for about the same time. It’s hard for me to eat what I want to eat, to try to recover, to think that maybe
I am worth recovering.
It’s hard. Anyone who’s ever had an eating disorder, or has gone through depression and self harm will tell you that it’s hard trying to change your thought process, trying to tell yourself that you’re worth it, you’re better than this, you’re beautiful. But I’m trying. I’m trying my hardest to recover, and I’m trying to live my life as well as I can.
Today is 4/26/13, I am 5’8”, and I currently weigh 133 pounds.
And I am happy with myself the way I am.
I’ve submitted once on here and had a bit of feedback, and I appreciate every word that was sent.
I am extremely skinny and tall, and this has caused quite a bit of greif through my life, even from my own siblings. Even now, I receive giraffes from my parents and family because of my skinniness and the length of my neck. They find it humorous; I, however, do not.
As you can probably see, I’ve quite a few stretch marks on my hips, and even more on my back. I hated them most of my life, but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve come to love them. They’re marks wish a story, telling me this is who I am.
And the reason why I am naked in the picture above is because my penis is my largest insecurity. In this generation, so many people talk about who has the biggest one. A man’s worth and ‘manliness’, at least amongst other men, is mostly measured by the length of it, and it’s hard having confidence when yours is only average. It’s the hardest thing to accept and I wish I didn’t have to feel so low about my masculinity because my member isn’t as big as someone else’s.
Thank you so much for reading this.
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 there, my name is Harmony and this is my first post. I’m new to Stop Hating Your Body, and I actually didn’t know that websites like this exist. Here is my story:
I am very tall, around 5’9. I have always felt awkward about this because I appear larger then most girls. About a year ago I weighed 180lbs. I was incredibly down on myself, and I hated my body. So I started exercising and trying to loose weight. I did, I got myself down to 135. Now I am continuing to work out, but I don’t see it in the mirror. My body image is so skewed that I cannot see how beautiful I truly am. I still see myself as the same size. Despite the fact my family and friends keep telling me that I don’t need to loose weight. I am struggling with the bump between my hips and stomach. My mind wants me to starve myself and run until this bump is gone, but will it ever disappear? and will I be happy with my body once it is gone?
I don’t think so. I think blogs like this, that support positive body image, will. Reading all of the stories on this website has opened my eyes to all the different sizes of women, and how we all struggle with our body image. I envied thin women, and wished I looked like them. Realizing that we all are facing this together, makes me feel a lot stronger. I feel like I can do this, and I will learn to love my body and it’s imperfections.
I hope to post again in a few weeks and tell you of how far I have come.
Thank you for this website, and all the strong men and women who have shared their stories. You are truly inspiring to me.
TW: self harm, eating disorder
This is very brave for me to post, but I’m going to, because when I looked at this picture, I didn’t hate what I saw. I didn’t see a bulging stomach, fat thighs, and ugly scars. I saw a waist that dipped in, a small chest, and scars that are finally fading and healing. And I was okay with how I looked here. I may not be the thinnest girl and I may not have flawless skin, but I am me, and I am trying to accept that.
I have suffered from Bulimia for three years now, and have spent every second of those three years hating my body and the way I look. I have taken razors to my skin over and over because of that disgust I felt towards myself. But I am in recovery now. I am trying to see myself as beautiful the way I am. I wear what I want in an attempt to feel confident. I go to the beach in bikinis and am not ashamed of my scars. I still have terrible self-image, but I try to fight it in small ways every day. I am trying to love myself again.
![[TW: Mention of eating disorder]
For as long as I remember, I have always sought absolute perfection. In school, the only acceptable grade to obtain was an “A.” At work, I always strived to be the top seller at my store. In my friend circle, I sought to be the friendly, bubbly girl that everyone could come to in their time of need. From an outsider’s point of view, I would be viewed as a healthy young adult. Unfortunately, this assumption could not be further from the truth. I possessed an internal struggle with the appearance of my body. In my eyes, my stomach was not flat enough, my arms were chubby, and my skin was a pasty shade of weight. As a result, I drastically altered my eating habits. I began eating close to nothing and vigorously working out at the gym. Unfortunately, this did not make me feel better about my self image. I was hungry, tired, and emaciated. My friends told me they noticed a drop in my energy levels and had not been by bubbly self for a while. This feedback from my friends made me come to realize that I was BEAUTIFUL just the way I was. I was not born to have barbie-like proportions, I was born to be myself. Now, I eat freely without worrying about the calorie count. I go out with my friends and eat pizza. Late at night, I snack on my favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors. I never weigh myself or count these calories. Eating freely and accepting my body has been an enlightening experience. My constant hunger was replaced by happiness. I now LOVE my body and would not do anything to alter it’s appearance. Every morning I look in the mirror and smile, as I know that I am no longer straining my body and live a healthy lifestyle.
You can follow me at crazy-talking.tumblr.com if you want advice or any tips for accepting your BEAUTIFUL body :)
BE BRAVE! JOIN THE BODY PEACE REVOLUTION!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/0f6011b0aefe684ed918f4e3b60ea588/tumblr_mkpcoitbNw1qen4sno1_500.jpg)
[TW: Mention of eating disorder]
For as long as I remember, I have always sought absolute perfection. In school, the only acceptable grade to obtain was an “A.” At work, I always strived to be the top seller at my store. In my friend circle, I sought to be the friendly, bubbly girl that everyone could come to in their time of need. From an outsider’s point of view, I would be viewed as a healthy young adult. Unfortunately, this assumption could not be further from the truth. I possessed an internal struggle with the appearance of my body. In my eyes, my stomach was not flat enough, my arms were chubby, and my skin was a pasty shade of weight. As a result, I drastically altered my eating habits. I began eating close to nothing and vigorously working out at the gym. Unfortunately, this did not make me feel better about my self image. I was hungry, tired, and emaciated. My friends told me they noticed a drop in my energy levels and had not been by bubbly self for a while. This feedback from my friends made me come to realize that I was BEAUTIFUL just the way I was. I was not born to have barbie-like proportions, I was born to be myself. Now, I eat freely without worrying about the calorie count. I go out with my friends and eat pizza. Late at night, I snack on my favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors. I never weigh myself or count these calories. Eating freely and accepting my body has been an enlightening experience. My constant hunger was replaced by happiness. I now LOVE my body and would not do anything to alter it’s appearance. Every morning I look in the mirror and smile, as I know that I am no longer straining my body and live a healthy lifestyle.
You can follow me at crazy-talking.tumblr.com if you want advice or any tips for accepting your BEAUTIFUL body :)
BE BRAVE! JOIN THE BODY PEACE REVOLUTION!
Hi there! My friends call me Shaggy, which I decided to play up with the baggy green shirt and the general hippie-ness of it all. I also made up a teensy rhyme to accompany this honestly kickass picture of me
Blemished skin, lanky hair
Dark under eye circles
I Don’t Care
You have no idea how hard it is for me to say that!
Why? Let’s just say that I was raised in a household where looks were VERY important, as was the word ‘diet’ and the existence of under-eye cream.
It killed me. I struggled with this eating disorder and that one, and I was basically food-phobic. On top of that, I was terrified to be seen without makeup.
Now, years after, I’m embracing lanky hair, not covering up blemished skin and dark circles, and rolling my eyes when family members call me a fat slob when I’m visiting home and an entire big frozen pizza went missing by my (a rather thin and short girl) hand (come on, can’t anyone say that’s a total success?). I mean, as I said, my friends call me Shaggy for a reason.
Look, all I want is everyone who judges and criticizes people based on weight and appearance to calm the frick down with the mean comments about someone being too fat and someone being too thin, having to lose or gain weight, and cover up any so-called imperfections.
Really, it’s not cool. Speaking from personal experience, those comments DESTROY people (I was one of them).
I’m not a fighter usually, but I am joining the Body Peace Revolution because a lot of people in this world need to take a chill/acceptance pill.
It takes people like us though! Everyone on this gorgeous Tumble page: You are wonderful!
I have been having issues with my body since probably the fifth grade. I have been constantly told I am too tiny or that I need to eat/fatten up. Most people seem to mean these comments in a joking way, but it has always bothered me that I am “skinny as a stick”. I have felt awkward in clothes that show my legs (which have been referred to as “chicken legs”), arms, or chest. These are the skinniest/tiniest areas of my body. I am not 100% confident with my body. I am constantly comparing myself to other girls (“Why can’t I have her boobs?” “Why doesn’t my butt look like that?” “Her legs look normal.” etc,etc). The whole reason I am doing this is to try and feel a little bit better about myself and my body. I want to stop disliking my body. It’s the only one I’ve got, and I want to embrace it. So I guess this is step one to being happy with myself. Yay.
Ever since I was 15 I have always been told how much my body “sucks” compared to others. Recently I have decided that I really don’t care what anyone else thinks, I’m happy with my body now and if other people don’t like it then that’s just too bad. Everyone is beautiful in their own way.
This is my second submission to stophatingyourbody, and I’m so so proud of it. I talked briefly about my terrible self image on my other post, but it was mostly about how I feel about my smile and hair. This one tackles a larger insecurity- my body.
I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety disorders my entire life, and my extremely low self image comes mostly from that. But there are other things that make me scared to show my body, and make me extremely insecure about how I look.
I am a naturally small female. I’m 5’3” and I’ve never weighed in over 100 pounds- right now I’m at 90. I don’t have extremely large breasts, or even much of a butt.
I’m constantly called an “anorexic b*tch” or “bulimic sl*t”. People that I hardly know tell me “You need to go eat about 10 burgers.” and I’m constantly told that I’m “unhealthily skinny”.
That’s not true though. To be honest, I eat constantly. I’m a healthy eater, yes, but I don’t go without eating for much more than a couple hours. I LOVE FOOD.
So the fact that people tell me that my body isn’t right and isn’t healthy hurts me so much. That, added on to my already through-the-roof self consciousness, makes me really dislike showing off my body in any way.
I’m insecure about the way my thighs don’t touch in certain places. And the way you can see my ribs. I’m insecure about my bony arms and hands. And the way that the small amount of body fat I do have is distributed about my mid-section. All of these things bother me and make me stress out over my body.
Lately, though, I’ve been trying something new. When I find that I’m feeling really down on my body, I’ll pamper myself. I’ll take a looong shower, and take time on every part of me. I’ll deep condition and braid my hair. I’ll take an hour doing my nails. Then I put lotion all over myself, and as I do I’ll appreciate every part of me. “I love my long legs, I love my hips, I love my shoulders, and my fingers, and my lips.” And slowly I’ve begun to constantly love my body.
Next week, even, I’m going to get my belly button pierced, which will hopefully help me love my body even more, and want to show it off this summer.
Do what you want with you body. Its yours to love and worship!
You’re beautiful no matter what, so don’t listen to what people tell you.
PS. In the pic, I’m wearing my “Cocky” belt buckle. Now, I’m not “cocky” in any way at all, actually, I’m quite the opposite… But wearing this belt sure makes me feel good :D
xoxo
These pictures were taken 30 seconds apart. In the first image, I’m at ease, carrying myself as I would normally. In the second one, I’ve twisted my torso, tensed everything I could and breathed out in order to appear muscular. Before and after photos are a sham! You’re perfect the way you are, don’t bend yourself out of shape to conform to society’s twisted concept of beauty. You’re beautiful.
This is me right after a run. For me, my body image has been an especially treacherous battle. But now, after a long fight, I have realized:
I am fat,
and I am thin,
but most importantly, I am happy, and I am healthy.
Sometimes you have to fight a battle more than once before you win it!
Much love and good luck!
-Summer
