Growing up, I was always smaller than all the other kids, especially in Kindergarten and on through grade school. During that time, all I heard was, “Oh, you’re so short!” from my peers. Back then, I didn’t really care because looking back now, we were all small even though back then, to me, it did not seem that way at all!

Going on to present day, I am still decently small and very short compared to a lot of my friends and of course, I still get called short to this day, but I don’t mind my height at all, I am also comfortable with my weight as well, which, sadly, a lot of people can’t say, but no matter how hard I try, I don’t think I will ever have the “summer body” that everyone wants again, especially after my first year of college.

The “freshmen 15” is a very real thing.

Going into college, I thought that it wouldn’t happen to me because I’ve never had much trouble with gaining too much weight, no matter how much I ate. I considered myself to be very blessed to have a great metabolism during high school, then I got to college and that changed quickly. Personally, I did not experience the “freshman 15” until second semester, I had actually lost roughly around fifteen pounds first semester because I was constantly sick with either a sinus infection or colds, but then second semester rolled around and everything started to change. I also consider myself a person who eats when they are stressed, so naturally, I ate a lot during second semester because it was getting closer to finals, but I started a routine with working out, only seeing small results, but results nonetheless, which was still great to me, but I still didn’t think my body was summer ready and I kind of just accepted it.

Here we are, at the beginning of summer and I still don’t have that summer body that I really wanted this summer, and all summers, really. I really enjoy working out and eating healthy which, to me, is a great habit but it is tough to actually get a good workout in with limited funds to pay for a gym membership, so I am trying to what little workouts I can while also babysitting my 9-month-old niece, we try to go on walks daily, but sometimes it is just too hot for her to be outside with me, so it gets tough to get exercise in. With that being said, I obviously don’t have the body I would like, and that’s okay, not having the body that I want may suck, but that will not stop me from soaking up the sun in my cute swimsuits and having fun with my friends, even if they do have better bodies than me.

I have great friends that are so body positive no matter what I or they look like in a swimsuit and that is the best for anyone.