Beautiful at Any Size

Beautiful at any size

It takes a lot to admit that one is beautiful at any size because we have been conditioned to think that beauty is one specific size. That’s why magazines for women MOSTLY sell you the skinny young girl on magazine covers because that is the ‘standard’ of beauty. It’s interesting that even in Africa, beauty to us means being skinny.  After I gained weight it was hard for me to accept that I am beautiful at any size. And because of the constant bashing I gave my body, I wasn’t even able to do anything about it because I was depressed and half the time stressed and anxious.

Learn to Love yourself and see the excess, unwanted fat fall.

If I see myself as not worthy, I will not be good to my body. If I constantly see myself lacking, and I convince myself that I am not beautiful, why would I even try to make myself better. One can’t make something better if one finds no value in it, to begin with.

I have been ‘dieting’ my ‘entire life’. Watching what I eat, exercising, sleeping early and drinking lots of water. But my body was in my eyes NEVER perfect. Even at my smallest weight, I thought I could go slimmer. Anyway…  a couple of years back my weight shot up. And this happened mainly because I had started drinking. Drinking naturally slows down the body’s natural capabilities to burn fat.

Last year I decided to try and stick to a diet that was working for a lot of people. The Keto diet. It didn’t work for me, in the long run. My body doesn’t digest fat properly and keto is high fat, low carb and moderate protein. But… that’s the thing about diets, not every diet will work for you because everyone’s body is different.

The point of this story Is to inform you that if you don’t start loving yourself, your health won’t be a priority. So, I started loving myself and everyday I’d tell myself how beautiful I am and how fabulous my body is even if i didn’t BELIEVE IT. But, When I started doing that, I noticed I started taking better care of myself, my mental state as well as my physical health.

Since then I’ve lost a total of 10 kilograms (starting January, Slow weight-loss).  I do what I can and allow my body to do the rest. But what I’m pretty sure of is that my body reacts to my thoughts. But, the way I look doesn’t determine my worth. I am beautiful at any size and the only reason I recently started the weight-loss journey again was so I can feel comfortable with my myself and prevent myself from getting weight related diseases. I am worthy, I am beautiful and I am deserving of all the love I give to others, I should give to myself.  I am beautiful at Any size.

Now about the fashion. How to wear t-shirt, blue jacket and black pants. Make sure the t-shirt matches your personality. I used a maroon graphic-T from cottonON. How to wear t-shirt, blue jacket and black pants: make sure the jacket has a bright colour. I will always advice on bright colour jackets or blazers because it’s easy to fall into the too formal category when everything is monochrome. How to wear t-shirt, blue jacket and black pants: I, with my natural behind, cannot wear baggy pants. The black pants I wore this day are from H&M. Love that these black pants stretch so fitting my boody in them was not necessarily difficult but it wasn’t that easy. One major key in choosing black pants, for an African body, is making sure that the black pants you choose have a waist size that suits you. I hate wearing pants that have a waist band gap is not on.

ALL PICTURES: KAGISO MOTLHAMME @Kaygism