When I was younger, I struggled with my weight. I was never obese, or even really fat, but I was just big enough that the kids at school saw that I was different, and would tease me mercilessly. I was also lucky enough to go through puberty at an early age, giving them extra ammo to tease and mock me about my body. My poor body image was something that haunted me day in and day out—I never got to feel good about myself, and my teenage years were full of shame and embarrassment. I used to skip swimming classes during PE because I didn’t want anyone to see my body, and thought I was a healthy eater I was always self-conscious when I ate.

During my university years, all of this got to me, and I ended up in a cycle of poor eating habits combined with lack of time for exercise. This time, the weight actually did pile on, and for the first time in my life, I found myself actually overweight. Eventually, I got to a point where I decided that enough was enough, and I began to change my eating and exercise habits so that they were healthier, and completely sustainable in the long-term. And the weight came off—I actually ended up being a lower weight than during my high school years—and has stayed off for several years now. However, I still found myself haunted by those jibes about my body, even though I was at a healthy weight, and was fit and toned. It was my boyfriend who finally convinced me to let it go—that I was not the same person that I was then, and that worrying about things in the past that can’t be changed is a pointless exercise. This is something I’ve tried to live by, and I’m far more positive about my body image as a result.

And now for a slightly related update on work for you all to critique, I have finally finished the changes for the vaser lipo webpage. I am a little conflicted how I feel about this one, any comments would be helpful