All my life I’ve dealt with the pressure to “fit in." Most girls can relate to this statement. We have to look a certain way, talk a certain way, dress the way everyone else dresses, and do what everyone else seems to be doing. Why is there so much pressure on girls of all ages to look a certain way and be a certain size? Society’s image of perfect is being blown way out of proportion. There are all these perceptions that we have to look like the models in magazines or the women on television; this is a very unhealthy image for young girls. Most people don’t actually look like the models we see in ads; their lifestyle is completely unrealistic.

Coming to terms with who you are and being able to accept the body you have is really hard to do. Whenever I look in the mirror there are constantly things about myself that I’m tearing apart. Whether it’s my arms, my thighs, or my skin, there is always something I can find wrong to criticize. For as long as I can remember, I have always been bigger than a lot of girls. Does that mean there is anything wrong with me? No, it just means there is more of me to love.

I’m tired of picking myself apart for every little thing that seems to be wrong with me. It also doesn’t help that most girls can be very mean to one another. Some girls love to tear other girls apart, especially when they are already down. Why can’t we boost each other’s confidence and tell one another how fabulous we are instead of rooting for others to fail? We pay way too much attention to what our friends and other girls' post on social media, but instead we should be focusing on what makes each individual special in their own way. We are constantly being compared to everyone else, yet there is only one person in this life that we were destined to be. You were given this life for a reason, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about that.

We need to stop doubting who we are and start loving ourselves. It’s time to start embracing our flaws because our flaws are what make us beautiful. No one is perfect, and if everyone looked the same then this world would be a pretty boring place to live in. Instead of picking apart everything we hate about ourselves, we need to start praising the things that we like. There is nothing wrong with receiving a few compliments from ourselves every now and then and there is especially nothing wrong with being a little confident once in a while.

I’ve never been happy with my body. The constant struggle to try and change that is only getting harder. I work really hard to try losing weight but it is a constant battle with myself. I’ve come to the conclusion that I can no longer lose weight for the people around me, but for myself and only myself. It has to be something that I want to do because I want to make a change in my life; it can’t be something I do because of the constant pressure to fit in. If people want to be a part of my life, they will like me for me and not how much I weigh. I’m still the same person at any given size and that’s one thing that will never change.