“That day broke me. Not because my boyfriend left, not because of the things he said. But because in one moment, I lost the dearest, most precious thing any of us have – I lost myself. I moved cities, countries, and even continents. It’s been 3 months and 3 years since he took my love away.”
‘My ex sat me down on the couch and said, ‘I will never be able to love you for the way you look.’ He stood up and left, forever.’: Woman describes her journey to ‘love myself fully again’
‘Why bother with contraception? You’ll never have children anyway.’ I wanted to give up.’: Young woman overcomes depression from PCOS, acne, ‘I keep blooming every day’
“I remember the distress I felt. ‘Why is my hard work not paying off?’ I just wanted to give up and hide from the world. I thought I wasn’t worthy of love. I mean, who could possibly love such an ugly face? At my lowest point, I met a boy. He made me realize I was so much more.”
‘It bothers people that I’m confident. When I started casually dating after he passed away, people were not okay with that.’: Confident widow encourages others to ‘throw out expectations of self-pity’
“Recently, my daughter has experienced bullying at school. The people who have been unkind to her likely have no idea what we’ve been through the last 2 years. They just see a target and go after her relentlessly. This body has carried me through hell and back.”
‘I began ripping my clothes off. I stayed home. I could have been at the party I’d looked forward to for weeks, but instead, I chose my couch.’: Woman finds self-acceptance after ‘years of hating my body’
“‘You’re going to find the perfect outfit. Your body just birthed a human, be easy on yourself.’ I could feel the tears creeping in, the familiar burn in the bridge of my nose. This time I knew the root of it was different. I cried for all the years I spent hating my body. For all of the years hiding behind throw pillows and purses. I did something that, before, would have been out of the question. I told them the truth.”
‘Your makeup looks like you worship Satan. Your entire appearance disgusts me.’: Abuse victim proudly says, ‘I am so much more than she said I was going to amount to’
“She would break out the large stitching needles and sit on my tiny form, peeling my fingernails away from my flesh. It didn’t matter what it was, she insulted it. ‘You will die alone,’ she said when I mentioned being in love with a girl. ‘I should have aborted you,’ when I talked back. Once puberty hit, it was game over for me. I couldn’t win no matter how hard I tried.”
‘I’d hold my breasts in each hand. ‘Who would I be without these?’: Woman opens up about her journey to self-love, ‘My body wasn’t a temple. I definitely didn’t treat it like one.’
“I used to get changed in P.E. and look at all the other girls around me. My hips were wider, my legs were thicker, and my stomach had a ‘flab’ to it. I was already in a C cup by the time I turned 12. I couldn’t bear being naked in front of my boyfriend. I would wear baggy t-shirts during sex, and he wasn’t allowed to see my boobs without a bra–I had forbidden that! My ex-boyfriends would tell me if I just lost weight, I’d be ‘unreal.’”
‘Even if you lose the weight, you’ll just gain it all back. This is too hard for you.’ I felt sloppy and ashamed of my mom pooch.’: Mom of 3 dedicates to a healthy, positive lifestyle through ‘self-acceptance and love’
“I noticed it first in my wedding photos. I didn’t even want to have pictures hanging around my house because I didn’t like the chubby arms and wide face that glared back at me. I have only 2 pictures of my baby bump during my first pregnancy. I was so uncomfortable that I didn’t want any photos of my bare belly those 9 months. There was a dress I found that covered my body well and made me look ‘okay enough,’ so I bought it in 4 colors. I knew something had to change.”
‘My mom would say I was ‘ballooning.’ I was in 4th grade. She’d implement some new weird food rule for my ‘health.’: Woman is ‘blown away’ by body positive community, ‘I learned to love myself, heal my relationship with my body and soul’
“Maybe my mom thought I wasn’t smart enough to hear what she was really saying: ‘My daughter is broken, how do I fix her?’ I was working out. I was doing everything right, wasn’t I? ‘Why am I still fat?,’ I asked myself. I was 10. Eating 500 calories a day, no cheating. But it was there, in that despair, that my life started to change. I came across a plus-size woman’s account and was… blown away.”
‘Look, she’s eating something!’ I hear the whisper. I feel the cold gnawing at the bottom of my stomach. I hate it and I love it.’: After 12 years battling anorexia, ED survivor learns to accept new plus-size body
“My brother makes me a sandwich when he sees I didn’t eat lunch. My bones poke up under my skin. ‘Please eat it,’ he begs. ‘You need to eat.’ It is so sweet of him, so I eat a few bites. But when he leaves, I give the rest to the dogs. They leave no evidence. Nothing in the trash for my dad to find when he empties it, nothing to clog the toilet. I have become clever in the ways of secret self-destruction.”
‘You’re not getting breast implants for me? After all I’ve done?!’ Just like that, my marriage was dead.’: Woman divorces husband after pressure for plastic surgery, ‘never alter yourself for a man’
“He was the perfect husband, until my 27th birthday. He took me into the storage closet of our tiny apartment. ‘Surprise!’ he said, pulling out a white envelope. I thought it would be a cute card. Inside I found cold, hard cash. Literally hundreds of dollars. ‘I saved it. For your new boobs!’ I felt rage overtake my body.”
