Recently I have been seeing a lot about body positivity on Facebook, Instagram and various news outlets. It seems like Millennials especially are embracing the movement and plus size models are becoming more mainstream. Fat is now a thing apparently.
I have almost always been overweight. As a teenager it was awful because back then in the “old” days of the early 1990’s, there just wasn’t that many clothing options for teenagers past the size of 10 (Remember the store 5-7-9? Yeah, I never could shop there either). I would go to the mall and stare forlornly at the “junior” stores as I headed into Lane Bryant to try and find something that didn’t look like my mom would wear it.
In college I lost a bunch of weight and for a short while got to shop at all those stores that I used to have to pass. It was fun. But I was hungry. A lot. And dating still sucked. Did I mention I was hungry a lot?
As the years passed and I got married and settled in to office cubicle life my waistline grew. Now at the age of 37 I am firmly in the “plus” camp. And after having a baby my body also is no longer, ahem, “youthful.”
Do I wish I could have a supermodel bod with a non-appetite? Sure. But this is me. All size 16/18 of it. My weight fluctuates a little but I know I will never be a size 4. Even in my “thin” days I was a size 8. Does this mean I am a sloth who does nothing but eat? No. I am always trying to workout and move more. But I also am living and have decided not to be tied to the number on the scale anymore. Whether I am thin or fat I am still a person. Living my life and I deserve to be happy and loved as I am.
I have been living my own body positivity movement for the past 10 years.
I had a friend post recently that she is afraid to put on a swimsuit this summer. She doesn’t like her thighs. What? People, she is thinner than me. She is gorgeous. She is the person you want to see at the beach with a swimsuit on. Yet she is afraid of her body.
I want to tell all of you out there right now – Put on your damn swimsuit and swim! Run, skip and jump. And “gasp” put on a pair of shorts! Who cares if your thighs rub together or you have cellulite. When it is 90 degrees outside the people around you are just thinking about getting to the closest air conditioned room, not the size of your thigh gap.
I will admit I used to be afraid of shorts. But then I moved to Florida. Where you sweat in the shade. Now I have a drawer overflowing with shorts. And guess what? No one ever has said anything about my thighs. There are so many clothing choices out there today. And online shopping has made plus sizes more accessible than ever. Treat yourself to some cute summer things and WEAR THEM.
Have your own body positivity movement. Life is too short not to wear shorts.
Kathy Thomas 