Everyone noticed the progress but me. Every time I looked in the mirror all I saw was that fat frumpy little girl getting picked on. The one who has had a self image complex since grade school. The one with the squishy cheeks that your grandma would love to pinch. I don’t remember when it started but bullying has been around for ages. I was never cheerleader material although I did try out in 6th grade. That was a joke, or let me say I was after that. Girls can be cruel! Somehow on 7th grade summer break going back to school I had dropped my “baby” fat. I was one of the American Eagle and Abercrombie kids. Everyone seemed to notice. I became the cool kid who fit in with all the cliques. Looking back I see even then the emphasis girls placed on themselves to be popular and to fit in. As an adult we have that same mentality. Maybe it’s looking at others pictures on Facebook, or watching the CMA’s, somewhere in the back of your mind you are comparing. Ladies, just stop. Learn to embrace the body God gave you. Embrace, accept, all those lovely adjectives that you have never added in your vocabulary, use them. After losing 60 pounds my body is not what I had imagined, but better than I expected. I knew after being obese, birthing 3 beautiful children and neglecting myself that it would not be runway worthy. I step on the scales and it tells me that numbers don’t matter. I’m 191 pounds… Some of y’all would die if you ever even saw that number. For me it was a milestone to be under 200. I am proud of that number. I am embracing it and striving to keep moving forward. So guess what I bought this year??? I know you’re probably thinking, don’t say it. Well yes, I bought a bikini…..and I am rocking it. Did I go out of my comfort zone? Yes. Do I still have those feelings of doubt? Most definitely. But I am embracing the body I have worked so hard for. Please, please, please stop being so hard on yourself ladies. You are all so beautiful!
