Hey, I'm Grace. I'm a nearly 5'4 ,16 year old who is a size 16. This is my face. (For some reason my tongue always pops out when I smile, I think it's cute!)
I absolutely love that top, it's a gorgeous colour. 🥰
For most teenagers, looks are something we obsess over all the time- having the perfect body (which by the way changes it's requirements every year, probably even month), wearing the clothes that make that body look even better, having smooth skin and perfect brows, and hair that is perfectly styled. The list of things to obsess and worry about goes on. It gets drummed into us from a young age often without us even realising it. And when we feel like we don't match up to the 'requirements', we feel worthless and inadequate. For a lot of people that feeling leads to them feeling like they have to change. I know it did for me.
This is my body. (Just after an exhausting gym session!) I wanted to show you, because this is what bodies look like. Not all bodies have to fit the 'requirements' of the 'perfect body'. A real body is perfect in itself and is something to be celebrated, not hated.
According to society, my body is not the 'perfect' body. Never has and probably never will be. I tried for a while to make it into something that would be accepted, I tried running, excessive amounts of makeup and Slimming world. But instead of making myself better, I ended up changing my exterior very little and being left with a messed up way of thinking about myself, food, exercise and even other people. I've spent too many years of my life hating my body and wishing it was smaller. I've had enough of restricting myself with what I eat to the point that food was a problem rather than a pleasure. I've spent too many hours crying about a top or pair of jeans that don't fit anymore, and I'm learning to not just accept my body for what it is, but to love it. To love it with all of my heart because it is the thing that gets my though life and it is worthy of love.
You may be wondering why I've shared so much about how I have struggled with my body, it's because I wanna be real! I don't know many women who can say that they have always wholeheartedly loved their body, because there is always something we can pick at, we are human. I guess I'm writing this for the girls who sit in their bedrooms wondering if they are enough. Wondering if they will ever be loved because of the way they look. Wondering if they are the only one's feeling this way. Well I can promise, you aren't the only one hurting.
I get that hearing some random person on the internet telling you that you are worthy doesn't automatically make you love everything about yourself, I'm not there myself. It takes reminding yourself when you look in the mirror that your flaws are your power! Those stretchmarks tell a story and it's your story. Each scar, bump and imperfection is yours to keep. So pick yourself up, and hold your head high. You are beautiful no matter what anyone tells you. And your opinion is the only one that matters. You only get one body in this life, so treat it with love.
I'm just waiting for that one comment that says I'm promoting an unhealthy lifestyle- I choose balance. I choose to enjoy a nutritious diet and still eat cake. I choose lazy days as well as gym days. I choose balance because extremes are damaging. Neglecting the physical health of your body isn't kind and neither is obsessing over being 'perfect'.
When you look on social media for mid/plus size fashion influencers (I have), you never find teenagers. They are always women in their twenties and upwards. Usually thirties. It takes people until their THIRTIES to learn to love their body. That shows you how hard society has made it for us to fall in love with ourselves. I know I'm only 16 and I have good days and bad days, but I want to be the girl that 13 year old me wanted to see and never saw. The girl who struggles, but carries on anyway. The girl who has stopped caring if people stare at her stomach in a tight skirt, or comment on her choice of clothes. The girl who uses makeup to celebrate her face instead of hiding it. Someday, I hope we can all be that girl.
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