Dear Summer Body

Dear Summer body:
I’m sure that you’ll look different next year, and the year after, and so on. Bigger, smaller, older, dimplier or not, looser or tighter, whatever the case... I want you to know that I won’t look back.

I won’t look back on these pictures, or the ones from 10 years ago either. I refuse to feel any ounce of shame about how you’ve looked in the past or in the present.

Body dysmorphia is real and I’m finally seeing YOU, the way you look and respecting you for what you are.

And what you’re not.

What aren’t you? ME. This body, the one that holds all of my bones and organs together... does not make me who I am.

Bodies should be celebrated at all stages and seasons of life and not used as a happiness gauge.

Once I realized that my BODY had no control over my WORTH that’s when it all started changing.

How did I get to that point? This is a question I get asked a lot. To be honest, I think it started clicking when I saw old photos of myself during intense diet and exercise and realized how unhappy I was with myself, inside and out.

I was the weight I’d dreamt of being, but still hated what I saw in the mirror.

That’s when it hit me. Oh my God. All of these years, I truly thought that I needed to be thin to be happy.

This is my story, and I plan on sharing it for as long as it takes.