When I was thirteen and took this school photo for eighth grade, I thought I looked BANGIN'. I thought my style was bangin', my hair was bangin', my jewelry as bangin'... I thought I was hot shit. I mean... c'mon guys, I look like the eighties threw up on me and this was 2004. I don't know why certain periods of my life I have a sudden burst of confidence and feel like the most amazing goddess that ever existed and then for MOST periods of my life I feel like a dumpster fire full of mangey raccoons.

What's probably the weirdest thing that I do is I feel envious of how pretty I was as a child. Trust me, I know how insane and dumb that is. But why did six years old me get the perfect hair and BMI?



Some things that I have learned and am STILL learning to put into practice to build up my own confidence naturally is:

1. Fill your social media feeds with women that you think are beautiful that are your similar body type. Don't have it full of (as wonderful and beautiful as they are) women with body types you strive for but physically can't obtain. Also, fill it with happy wonderful things like body positive quotes and puppies.

2. FUCKING EAT. Stop starving yourself. Stop dieting. Stop it. I was trying to so hard for so long and I saw on the internet somewhere the quote "We don't live to lose weight and pay bills." and that made me really rethink how much of my time I was spending on dieting.

3. This one is obvious but speak kindly to yourself. Don't say mean things about yourself. You are beautiful and amazing. Yell louder than the negative voices in your head.

4. Self-care!! It can be as easy as a face mask, an elongated hot shower, a nap... TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. You deserve it.

I am sure there is more to be added to the list but these four seem really important to me. They have already started helping me currently. I think there are too many women who are sick of spending so much energy hating ourselves.