31 Days of Goodwill Style - Day 10 - Style and Weight

All week, 31 Days of Goodwill Style has been all about finding  your style.  One of the barriers I had to finding my style was my weight.

Wait. That's not really true.  The barrier was not so much my weight as it was how I felt about my weight.  

For the past ten years, I have struggled with my weight.  Six years ago, I lost a lot of weight with Weight Watchers.  It seemed like everywhere I went, someone said how great I looked and how much weight I had lost.  It was awesome, and a huge boost to my confidence! That weight loss happened about a year after B was born when I was finding my style and starting to wear really cute clothes.

Shortly after I lost the weight, we moved to Maryland, and I gained all the weight back. (Thanks a lot emotional eating.)  When I saw someone that I hadn't seen in a while I just wanted to scream, "Yes, I gained it all back."  The weight gain felt like the giant elephant in the room that followed me where ever I went.

All those cute clothes that I bought when I lost the weight got packed up in a box, in the hopes that when I lost the weight I would wear them again.  As I gained more and more weight, I wouldn't buy any new clothes because, "I was starting a diet on Monday."

Before I knew it, I was back to my fashionably challenged ways.  My self esteem was low and my clothes showed it.

Then around two years ago, I decided to stop the craziness.  Good style was not something I deserved just when I was skinny.

With the prices at Goodwill, there was no reason I couldn't look good even if "I started a diet on Monday."

This year, I have lost some weight thanks to my dairy allergy, but all my body issues were not magically solved as the weight came off.

Am I the only crazy person that has ever done this? I don't know, but maybe you are in that boat with me. Maybe you are not even overweight, but you struggle with body issues.

Let me just say to you what I have to say to myself...

You are worth it!

You are worth it right now right where you are not just when you lose the weight.

You are worth a little time.  You are worth a little money.

You are more than a glowing red number on a scale.

 No matter what your size you deserve to feel confident with what you are wearing.

I'm sorry to sound like a hokey Special K commercial, but if you've ever struggled in this area you know how personal and how difficult it can be.

 Since I turned 30, I have really been trying to change my inner dialogue. I don't want to spend the next decade of my life feeling less than and tying my worth to a number on a scale.

Style is all about confidence and taking care of yourself and that can happen no matter what weight I am at.