I Struggled To Lose Weight Until I Learned To Love My Body

Ever since middle school, I have always been overweight, and I wasn’t really okay with my body — like, not at all. I just hated the way my body looked the whole time, and it was quite a struggle for me to to lose weight through the years. But even though there were many trials, I never really succeeded in losing the weight until I learned how to love my body.

I was no longer trying to lose weight out of hate — I was doing it out of love. I started thinking differently about my body, and instead of looking at models and celebrities and comparing my body to theirs, I shifted my way of thinking. I started thinking of how blessed I am to have a beautiful body that can move, that can walk and run, and how blessed I am to have it; I let that be my motive.

I started to love my curves and how feminine my body looked. I looked at people like Ashley Graham and Adele and how confidently they walked around with their curvy bodies, looking absolutely beautiful.

I realized how negatively I was thinking and how much this way of thinking hindered me. I used to think that I couldn’t go to the gym until I lost the weight because I just wouldn’t look right there. I worried people would stare at me, but then I started thinking of it in another way: What if being the overweight girl in the gym is actually an inspiring thing? What if being out there and trying your best is actually something very respected and nothing to be ashamed of?

I realized how much my negative thoughts about my body had become my worst enemy. How the lack of my self-love has caused me so much struggle.

I started to understand how much our thoughts can change our lives and the way we see ourselves. How sometimes we can be our worst bullies and criticizers when all we just need sometimes is our own self-love and acceptance from within.