rebel diamonds

"You are not fat. You have fat.

 You also have fingernails. You are not a fingernail."

(x)

I was just recently (5 minutes ago) scrolling through a news website, to be precise the

Health -section of it. I'm always up for new tips on how to make my body feel better.

What really irked me, though, was the headlines they had. 

"How to get rid of that little bit of summer weight you've put on!"

with a picture of a woman looking startled, squeezing her stomach rolls.

"When you're young AND fat, you're more likely to die!"

With the same type of picture, only in this one it was just the stomach rolls 

that were present. 

What these headlines are saying is 

you cannot enjoy life if you have fat. 

You cannot jump around in the autumn leaves and have the time of your life

with that summer weight stuck on you.

There is absolutely no hope for your future in relationships or friendships

if you have that extra bit of fat. 

Ok.

There is nothing wrong with liking the way you look.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to lose weight.

You do not have to lose weight even if you have put on those

"extra summer kilos".

You can live a perfectly happy life at size 18. 

Or size 6. Or 24.

You are not a worse person than someone else just because 

you are a different size than them.

Every human has a unique body.

It is their choice and their choice only whether or not

they want to change it.

You do not know better than the person owning the body just by looking at them.

If that news website's health section was somehow transformed into human form 

and took a good look at me naked 

 it'd probably say:

 "she's had a child and been too lazy to work out to get rid of her pregnancy weight." 

 I have stretch marks on my tummy and sides. 

My hips are very wide in comparison to my waist.

The fat in my tummy is mostly in the bottom half of it.

I do have fat, lost of it.

Now, let's take a look at what is really going on and what kind of lifestyle I lead.
(Just to be clear, there's nothing wrong with pregnancy weight either.
Mothers have amazing bodies, they grew a person inside them ! The point
I'm making is that you can never know another person's life or body
entirely unless you are that person)

I am a woman of 21, I enjoy eating things that make my body & brain feel good.

I probably, for the sake of my scoliosis-ridden back, should be more active and do sports

 but I won't make myself do such things if I feel like forcing myself to might lead to mental issues. 

Plus, my back has feeling been fine for at least a year now.

I struggle with my mental health. On a daily basis.

I'm in a happy, loving relationship, have been for 9 months now. 

I enjoy life even though I have to work on enjoying it extra hard

during the tough times of my illness. (More about my anxiety disorder here.)

I am now content with my body.

I don't feel like I need to change it to make someone or myself happy.

If I was unhappy in and with my body, I'd start exercising more and eating better.

I do not have to feel guilty about liking my body.

Please remember that you don't have to, either.

No matter what size you are.

Your body is amazing because it is your body.

No one else has your body.

That also means no one else knows your body like you do.

I think that's a good pointer to end on.

If you're interested in more body positivity,

check out this post.

It's one of my personal favourites.

Be happy,

be what you want to be. 

xx, Elli