When you put on weight it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling bad about yourself. The person looking back at you in the mirror isn’t the person you are used to seeing. You’re so busy focusing on the negatives of your weight gain that any positives in your life can become a blur. And suddenly you are at a crossroads, needing to make a decision on how to move forward.

I believe that there are four journeys that you can take when you start to gain weight. You can make the decision to put yourself on a diet and exercise to lose the weight. Or you could go by the age-old adage of ignorance is bliss. You could make the choice of accepting your new curves and embracing body confidence. Or you could just succumb to the negative feelings and constantly battle with your mind over how you feel.

THREE DRESS SIZES

When I put on weight I stupidly went for the latter option and let it eat away at me. I was flashing a smile on the outside but inside I felt terrible about how I looked. I was going through a really rough time and I was drinking away my feelings and eating away the pain. In three years, I have gone up three dress sizes and I’m at the heaviest weight I’ve ever been.

Maybe I’d finally hit my limit of feeling bad about myself and focuses so much on my weight. Maybe lockdown gave me time to think and I realised weight is not the be all and end all. Maybe lockdown made me realise that there were far worse things in the world than putting on weight. Whatever it was something clicked in me this year and I knew I had to start embracing my new body.

SEXY IS AN ATTITUDE, NOT A SIZE

Thanks to not commuting to work every day during lockdown I had been able to save a bit of money. I decided to treat myself to a new wardrobe and explore different styles and types of clothing. I pushed boundaries on my orders, made myself try new things and chose different sizes to see which fit best. I knew I had to stop looking at sizes and instead focus on how an outfit made me feel.

Comfort, confidence and sex appeal don’t come from the number on the tag of an outfit; it comes from within. Your outfit might look cute but deep red lines from a too tight waistband or straps, not so much. Life is too short to be uncomfortable in your clothing just for the sake of saying I’m size whatever. Going up a size in clothing doesn’t make you a bad person, it doesn’t change who you are. You’re just yourself but more comfortable!

Also, as your body shapes changes, be that bigger or smaller, your style can change alongside it. I used to love wearing tight plunging playsuits but now they just emphasise my stomach in a way I don’t like. So, instead I wear more floaty playsuits in different prints which sit a lot better on my curves. I haven’t stopped wearing them altogether, I just adapted the style to suit my new body shape.

SOCIAL MEDIA OVERHAUL

With social media being so prominent in our lives I knew that was a big contribution to how I felt. I needed to move away from the “perfect” feeds and aesthetically pleasing photos and move to more real accounts. I looked for women who were around the same size as me and accounts that promoted body acceptance. I unfollowed or muted a lot of accounts that no longer brought me joy or positivity.

It seemed like such a simple step, but it ended up making the world of difference. No longer was I pointlessly scrolling Instagram and no longer was I leaving the app in a negative head space. I was seeing confident women who had embraced their bodies and felt inspired to embark on my own journey. I looked forward to opening Instagram and seeing what these inspiring women were posting.

BODY CONFIDENCE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS

I decided that I wanted to refocus my Instagram account towards body positivity and being confident in your size. I decided to archive all my old posts so that I could start fresh with a more cohesive look and direction. I wanted to do for others what the accounts I’d found had done for me. Even if I help just one person start on their journey to self-love, I’ll take that a win. Or even just to stop and realise how negative they’ve been towards themselves and change that narrative.

If you are looking for accounts that focus on body confidence and female empowerment, I’m going to share some of my favourites. These girls are all really down to earth, extremely relatable and honest, and just so kind in their messaging. They’re always happy for me to slide into their DMs and have just changed the whole Instagram experience for me. It feels like I’ll be letting them down if I don’t work on accepting my curves and embracing body confidence.

ACCOUNTS TO FOLLOW

Ellie | @ellieayles

Tamzin | @taambam

Holly | @talesofboys

Leah | @leahelleloves

Siggy | @simply.siggy

Leah | @devotedtopink

Anna | @anna_laricciaa

Lauren | @lauren_dungey

Rachel | @littleblondeblogx

Simone | @therealsimonemarie

Keep an eye on my Instagram stories as I share some of my favourite accounts from time to time. And I hope you’ll stick with me on this new direction my content on Instagram will be taking me. My DMs are always open if you’d like to talk more about this and about how your own journey is going. Let’s change that narrative and start accepting our new curves and embracing body confidence together. Amazing things happen when women help other women!