Your Journey to Fat Acceptance Starts Here …and Now

As women, we all went through the struggle of wishing if only we looked differently, if only our hair was silkier or our lips fuller, but the most common struggle of all is demeaning our bodies and shaming ourselves for having body parts that are chubbier than what beauty magazines promote. This leaves us thinking we are not enough, and since we do not meet our society’s standards of beauty, no one will love us.

If you could relate to those words in any way, know that you are not alone. We feel you and your voice is heard. But let me tell you that before you expect anyone to love you, you owe it to yourself to love and appreciate your body exactly as it is.

Fat acceptance might be a challenging mission. If deep down, you are truly unsatisfied with your body shape, how could you accept it? Just like you take time to learn anything else, you must also take time to accept your body and appreciate it.

Of course, an inner revolution of this nature will not be easy or fast. The journey to fat acceptance goes through many ups and downs.

There will come days when you will feel your best regardless of how you look like, and there will come others when everything you tell yourself will seem unrealistic or a bunch of lies.

In both scenarios, you only need to remember one thing: your body is here for you through it all: the good and the bad.

Now I am in no way asking you to feel continuous love for your body all the time, as that is almost impossible. We all go through times when we dislike some parts of ourselves.

However, what I demand from you is to not be too hard on yourself. Give your body the inner gentleness and kindness it needs, that you might struggle to get from the external world.

Fat acceptance might seem like a difficult concept to grasp, yet its role is simple: to fight against sizeism in whatever shape it takes.

Women across the world are being discriminated against for fat-phobia and shamed for not obeying to their society’s pre-determined vision of body-positivity. Meanwhile, and at its core, body-positivity implies loving yourself no matter how you look like. We might even call it the only and truly unconditional love you can ever get.

For the sake of clarification, there is something we feel the need to tell you: fat acceptance does not mean you should surrender to your current weight once and for all. If you are planning on losing weight or adopting a healthier lifestyle, then kudos to you, go for it!

However, if the whole idea does not work for you or is not that appealing, then so be it. What is wrong with being fat anyways, so long as you feel comfortable in your skin and you are happy with yourself.

Fat acceptance goes beyond the battle to lose weight or try to look differently. Instead, it works on a much deeper level, that is of the self-image you have on your body. This one was built subconsciously over the years. Thus, changing it will not be an easy task.

To make this more achievable, there are many practices you can start doing to get ahead on your journey to fat acceptance. These can include standing in front of the mirror every day, looking your reflection in the eye and saying positive affirmations to yourself, or writing a list of the body parts you love about yourself the most and that you are grateful for, or giving yourself a positive compliment whenever a negative comment about your body crosses your mind.

Finally, imagine how great it would feel to not hate yourself, and the self-confidence it will lead you to. Let yourself emerge in this journey of fat acceptance and you will begin to see and experience life in brighter colors.