I have struggled with body dysmorphia for years. I’m not the skinniest of girls, and I never have been. I was bullied from kindergarten all the way through middle school for my size. I hated the way I looked for so long. Getting on the scale at the doctors was a nightmare. Changing costumes backstage for dance was so embarrassing because I didn’t want anyone to see my body. Thinking about the body God gave me was awful. All I heard were comments from my peers and family about how I’ll never be skinny enough or pretty enough for guys or how I need to watch what I eat because of the way I need to look on stage or how I need to suck in my tummy. I literally sat in classes thinking about how disgusting I looked sitting at my desk. The voices in my head about my physical appearance would not go away. It wasn’t until this year that I started feeling good about my body. For some reason God came down and forced me to realize I’m beautiful no matter what other people say. I wear size 14 in jeans and I’m proud. I’m an XL in t-shirts sometimes and I’m proud. I wear a high waisted bikini in the summer and I’m proud. My thighs expand to the size of a map on a placemat when I sit, and I AM PROUD. It’s still hard to look at my body sometimes, we all have good and bad days, but for the first time in my life I feel good being myself. I could not be happier with the way my physical appearance looks. As a society we have a long way to go to accepting every single body size and bra size and nose size, but let me tell you - as a 19 year old WOMAN, you are beautiful no matter what that dumb number on the scale says. And don’t you doubt it.
@andtheyreadoffournames @wouldfallfromgracie