I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time. I just haven’t been able to find the right words. I wanted to truly wrap my head around and sit with it for a bit before writing about what being body positive means to me.

I think to best explain this, I should first start at what being body positive doesn’t mean to me.

It doesn’t mean feeling 100% confident all of the time. I’d say I feel confident about my body a good amount of the time these days, but there are still times when I pick myself apart. I’m human. You’re human. Just like our bodies will never be perfect, neither will our mindset. To me, body positivity is a journey that never has a definitive finish line.

It doesn’t mean you have to be plus size. Yes, a lot of the body confidence movement has been championed by some amazing women who are plus size, but making an effort to love your body is something all of us deal with no matter what shape or size we are. In my life, my weight has fluctuated a lot. I’ve ranged everywhere from a size zero to a size 16, and honestly, when I look back at it, the times I was at my smallest were the times I needed body positivity in my life the most. I only wish I would have found my way to it sooner.

It doesn’t mean lying to yourself…or ignoring your body. There are times when I’ve told myself I’m being body positive, but I’ve actually just been ignoring part(s) of my body that I’ve been uncomfortable with. I’ve gone through periods where I’ve avoided looking at myself naked when passing in front of the mirror. I specifically did this in fitting rooms when trying on clothing. Sometimes I think that those times are even worse than when I would stand in front of the mirror morphing my body into positions to make my arms look smaller, my stomach flatter, my height taller, etc.

So what does being body positive mean to me?

A lot of things, really. It’s a journey. It’s spreading the word. It’s actively being aware of negative conversations about how we look (with other people and internally) and trying not to participate in or contribute to those conversations. It’s being brave. It’s not giving a fuck about what haters are gonna think…

Part of what motivates my body confidence and being comfortable showing off my curves in all their glory is the thought of the message it sends. If just one girl or woman saw me feeling good while rocking a crop top, and she absorbed some of that positivity into the way she views herself, that would mean the world to me. I know I’ve gotten some serious warm and fuzzies when I’ve seen other women display confidence in their bodies. I view it almost as a group think kinda thing. It can spread like wildfire if we allow it to.

Ultimately, I really think in order to be body positive, you’ve gotta force yourself to dig deep. At least I’ve had to. Do I sit for hours and ponder my body? No. That’s just straight up narcissistic. But there was a point when I stopped viewing my body as just an image that really drove things home for me. It was kind of mind blowing when I realized my body was my being…my existence. It was then that I began to see it for how beautiful it really is. I’ve been lucky enough in life to have had few health and physical setbacks, but when I did, it was a wakeup call that my body wasn’t just for looking at. My body is something that allows me to be and do what I want to do. And when it comes down to it, my mind is part of my body, and being body positive is accepting and loving that part of it, too.

So that’s what being body positive means to me. Will it mean the same thing to me next year or in 10 years? Maybe. Maybe not. But like I said…it’s a journey.

I’m going to open this conversation on Instagram because I want to know what being body positive means to you. I’d love to do an update on this blog post with all of your answers included!