I am sat watching Loose Women and have realised how brave everybody is by daring to bare and show off their body.

I realised how I have never allowed myself to acknowledge my own insecurities about my body image. I have always denied myself compassion because I told myself I have never been bullied: therefore I had no right to say I have body image issues. I also downplay my issues by telling myself that everybody dislikes something about their body. And that is true to an extent, however it isn’t “normal” to dislike most of your body and it certainly isn’t right when it affects your day to day life. 

As most of you know, I have self-harmed in the past to deal with very difficult and overwhelming emotions. I now wear those scars on my body and have to accept that they are there whether I like them or not. These are the main reason I have a very negative image of myself and my body. However I am also very unhappy with my weight at the moment and dealing with weight gain that has sprung from nowhere really. Part of the weight gain is down to an increase in painkillers and mental health medication. 

So where I’m going with this basically is; the thought of taking a picture of myself in a bikini and sharing that on social media for all to see fills me with panic and shame. And I never realised my body image issues were so big. Which means that now I can start looking at that and working through it. And I am going to aim to get out a bikini and get some snaps that might be acceptable enough to share. 

So to everyone with scars, big thights, cellulite, post baby belly’s, skin problems or whatever else who have so far shared their body picture with the world; hats off to you. That is not an easy thing and I salute every single one of you. 

Join the body stories campign and dare to bare using the hashtag #MyBodyMyStory

Love to you all. Remember you are beautiful no matter what you think! ❤