Since before I was born, the media has been showing us what a young woman’s body is supposed to look like; skinny and fragile with almost no body fat. I am most certainly not trying to shame women who possess that particular body type, and if that is you, that's great and you should be proud of your body. The message I am sending however, is that as a girl who has been an athlete her whole life and is now involved in collegiate athletics, I and many other young women will not be able to live up to that standard, and that is completely okay.

This may be hard to accept at first for young women in this position. In my younger adolescent years, I struggled a lot with my physical appearance. I was never categorized as “skinny”. I considered myself to be too bulky, too muscular, and too masculine-looking because of my broad shoulders, muscular arms, and larger thighs. I even went through some phases where I was afraid to eat certain foods because my somewhat bigger waist made me think I was overweight. High school was a time where the skinniest of girls would call themselves fat. If girls less than 120 pounds were fat, then I automatically thought I was obese. During prom season when girls were trying to sell old dresses, they would all be advertised as a size four or lower, which made me feel like a size eight was huge. It was the little tidbits like these that would make me feel insecure about my body. I sometimes have moments when these insecurities about my body return. Just last week I took a look at myself in the mirror and felt ashamed and embarrassed about the shape of my body.

For the longest time, I thought there was something wrong with my body and that I was flawed. About a year or so ago however, I realized that wasn’t the case. I am an athlete and have been for my entire life, so naturally, I am going to have some muscle, and yes, a little more body fat than other girls. I have been extremely active for as long as I can remember and I love that about my life. I am currently in my off season and have been lifting three times per week with my team and doing intense cardio almost everyday, and quite frankly, I am in some of the best shape of my life. I am able to handle some really tough cardio, core, and lifting workouts that I have never done before. I feel so accomplished and excited about the progress I have made and I can’t wait to get even stronger. I love having an athletic body type and would not want it any other way.

Being a women with an athletic body type definitely has its struggles; having to buy a size up in flannels because your arms and shoulders are too big, trying to pull your jeans up over your thunder thighs, and having to take in wayyy more calories than a normal human being are only a fraction of the things we have to deal with. For all of the young women who are in a situation like mine, I encourage you not to stress so much about your body image. We all have our moments when we wish we can change something about our bodies, but I find that the more I work out and eat a proper athletic diet, the less I feel ashamed of my body. You are strong and in shape and that is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it is something to be PROUD of. Of course we all have some body fat, but that’s normal and actually healthy. Getting rid of some body fat wouldn’t be a bad thing of course, but having a little bit of fat is nothing to be insecure about. Also, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat and the number that appears when you step on the scale does not define you as fat or skinny. Having more muscles than other girls doesn’t make you look any less beautiful. Love your athletic body type and be proud to be in shape because you are strong and you are stunning.