Body Positive Challenge Feature Profile

I'd like to start out saying THANK YOU. Time and again, we see ads or photographs of women who are lean and fit, and while some of them are encouraging or don't say anything at all, some are passive aggressively judgmental, separating the dedicated and hardworking from the lazy and unmotivated. For a long time, I tore down women who fit (no pun intended) into the former category. "That's nice that you work out 6 hours a day and run solely off of a single tofu and sadness smoothie Lisa, but I for one will not abuse my 2.7 seconds of alone time by exerting energy on purpose. Also, chocolate. And wine." Like I was better than them because my day didn't revolve around making time for the gym and meals that weren't frozen at some point. But as time passed, I realized something very important: these women were trying to make the most out of life on their terms, just like me. Some women go to the gym because seeing muscle tone gives them the same high that tasting a solid craft beer gives me. I don't get it, but it's not my business to get. It is okay to be skinny and fit and voluptuous and full figured and everything in between and more. It's okay to do your own thing, so long as you aren't climbing on the goals and priorities of other people to do so. I absolutely love going on adventures and trying new foods and having new experiences more than I will ever love a workout, and that is okay. It doesn't mean I don't care about myself, it doesn't mean that I don't value my health. It means I have different priorities than some people, and that's okay too. So thank you again for showing people everywhere that we are all equal, we are all living in this world together, it's time that we stop basing someone's value on their size. I am 219 lbs and 5'4". I am a size 14. I am a mother. I am a birth mother. I am a project management student. I am a beauty consultant. I love astronomy and comic books and Greek mythology and math and roller derby and loud rock music and tattoos. And I hope that in loving and being proud of my body and what it has done, that maybe I can inspire someone else to do the same.