I'm Guilty of Body Shaming

I'm guilty of body shaming.

It was a photo on Facebook of a police officer and a woman who, in my eyes, had arms that looked too fluffy despite the fact she runs every day.

I wrote something passive-aggressively negative about the woman in the photo and I got called out on it by my friends and followers.

Here's the kicker: the woman in the photo was me.

We do it all the time, ladies. We body shame ourselves.

The irony is, we are the women who would never, ever dream of calling another woman's arms fluffy!

We are the women who see the beauty in all women.

We are the women who were aghast when we read the viral story of a Playboy model who body shamed (via Snapchat) an innocent woman in a gym locker room.

We are the women who want our daughters and sons to grow up proud of their bodies.

Yet, we have no problem body shaming our own arms, tummies and tushes on social media with words like: "Look at this amazing ice cream cone (yes, I know that with my thighs, I shouldn't be eating it!)"

I don't believe most of us write such body shaming caveats because we want attention or praise that we are indeed beautiful or thin or whatever, but because we truly feel our photos need a disclaimer.

I know I did!

However, I won't be posting such disclaimers anymore.

Once my friends called me out on my most recent self-body shaming photo I felt awful - worse than feeling like I had fluffy arms. I felt dirty and insincere and hypocritical.

The lesson I learned is this: if you wouldn't say it about someone else's photo, don't say it about your own!

It's a twist on the golden words my mom taught me: "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all."

Try not to think it either (much easier said than done - I know). It's not healthy, it's not productive and it's most likely not even true.

And p.s. even if it is true, most likely nobody cares but you.

Now go love yourself the way your friends love you.