“Hello again! It’s your friendly neighbourhood body acceptance advocate coming through to tell you yet again how important it is to love your body, and to dress unapologetically in whatever you wear.”

Except sometimes, that’s not always the case. Let me give the above some context.

I’ve been on this slow-ass train to self-love and body acceptance since 2014, and over the past 4 years, myself – like many others on this journey – have had great highs and devastating lows. Over the past 4 years, I have documented my journey to self-love (the good as well as the bad), and I *think* I’ve gotten to a place where I can safely say that I’m heaps and bounds more confident than I used to be when I was younger. I’m wearing pieces I never would have ever thought of wearing, and I feel a lot more confident in my body than ever before.

Joanna Striped Dress – Oasis // Coat – Old Navabi (Similar) // Bag – River Island

I tend to frequently speak on panels and write articles telling people to “love themselves!”, give them tips on how to achieve a better level of confidence in their bodies, and share my favourite ways to practise self-care, but lately, it’s gotten to a point where I’m not beginning to practise what I preach and sometimes, it does make me feel like a bit of a hypocrite?

The last three weeks have been terrible for me, mental health wise. I’ve been scrutinising every inch of my body and hating absolutely everything. I’ve been feeling a bit insecure about myself and my self-esteem has taken a bit of a dip. It happens, you know? I’ve always said that the journey to self-love is just that: a journey, and not specifically a destination. There are going to be dips in the road and it’s absolutely fine.

I’ve come to accept the fact that even though I ‘preach’ body confidence, it’s still okay for me to have days where I feel rubbish about how I look, and that’s fine. It doesn’t make me any less of a ‘body positivity’ person.

I’m also always trying to challenge my views on different aspects of my body too, in a bid to try and overcome how I feel about it. Take this Joanna striped dress from Oasis. Normally this wouldn’t be a look I would typically go for as being someone with a non-hourglass shaped body, body-con striped dresses are my mortal enemy. I also absolutely hate being photographed from the side as well, as I’m shaped like a bin bag full of library books, but I’m determined to challenge/confront these issues, hence the side profile-age you see in this post!

Photography – Kaye Ford

At the end of the day, we are all in this together. Whether you’re a ‘body positive activist’ or not, we still go through the same ups and downs with our body image. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be human. Just remember not to be too hard on yourself, and recognise that this a moment that will eventually pass.