Insecurity has plagued me longer than I can remember. I’m insecure with how my blog looks, if I’m working the right job or saving as much money as I should. I also hate to admit it, but I’m insecure with how I look. In the media, we are fed what “beauty” should look like and what “health” should look like. I wouldn’t necessary consider myself to fit this image, but I feel my body is “adequate” enough where I don’t get made fun of for my weight. There are some body positive bloggers out there who radiate positive energy and give me an extra boost of confidence I needed on a particular day. I wanted to share with you a couple of my favorite body positive bloggers because we all need more positive vibes in our social media browsing.

BodyPosiPanda

Bodyposipanda’s instagram! Picture screenshot taken by me!

Bodyposipanda is run by Megan, a pastel princess who started encouraging others to love their bellies, cellulite and other imperfections society tries to cure. Not only is Megan an author, her book is titled Body Positive Power: How to Stop Dieting, Make Peace with Your Body and Live, Megan is also an eating disorder survivor. I adore her posts because of her energy, but she also includes trans, non-binary and men into her discussion which usually in the body positive movement, these individuals are left out. She’s a great human being and she brightens my feed literally.

~Michelle Elman Body Confidence Coach

Image from @ScarredNotScared, image screen shot taken by me

Michelle Elman is another strong, beautiful individual with a unique voice to the body positive community. She’s had 15 surgeries which has left her body with scars. There isn’t a lot of voice given to bodies with scars until she came forward and starting being honest with her followers about her journey to love herself. She’s relatable when she talks about chronic pain and how she has let go of what others think of her. I have never had chronic pain and I have no idea what that’s like, so to hear her story is inspiring to me.

Jazzmynejay from Buzzfeed

I don’t watch Buzzfeed as much anymore, but Jazzmyne was one of my favorites. She’s the best friend you want to have. She’s smart, funny and loyal to her friends and I also see her comment on other body positive pages too. She’s my fashion inspiration if I’m wearing an outfit that’s kind of funky, scrolling through her page gives me the extra boost I need to wear that outfit. I also think it’s important to follow a diverse group of body positive bloggers because their experiences can be vastly different. Jazzmyne is also friendly to anyone who is trans, non-binary or isn’t necessarily straight.

I_Weigh

This isn’t referencing a specific blogger, more like a movement. Jameela Jamil stars on The Good Place which I still haven’t watched, though it’s on my TV list. She started this campaign to remind women to feel valuable besides seeing a number reflected on a scale. She posts pictures of women with captions describing how unique they are as individuals. It’s a nice reminder to myself to stop being obsessive over weighing myself weekly.

Shout out To Plus Size Nerd!

Plus Size Nerd was started by Nancy Basile who is also creator of Media Medusa. She considers herself plus size and wanted to create a website advertising clothes fitting plus size women. I don’t necessarily consider myself “plus size” however, I find buying women’s t-shirts to be aggravating because there’s no room for my boobs and they’re always too tight in the arm pits. I admire all the work she puts into her blog because it’s normalizing body types not fitting the mold of “beauty”.

Following all of these body positive bloggers has made me feel more confident and secure with myself. We shouldn’t require outside validation to feel pretty, but it’s tough in the society we live in. Instead of fat shaming each other, we should compliment each other and spread more positive energy around. Social media can be a dark place, but it doesn’t have to be.