06/10/2026
This soul is .
As part of our Waterfall Empowerment Sessions, participants were invited to share their stories in their own words. This is hers.
āIāve spent most of my life at war with my body.
I was taught from a young age that being fat meant being less than. I was bullied for my weight, handed detox pills (laxatives) as a teenager, and learned very quickly that the smaller I became, the more praise I received.
For years I chased smaller. Smaller hips. Smaller stomach. Smaller thighs. Smaller space.
No matter how much weight I lost, it was never enough.
When I left an incredibly toxic relationship in 2017, my body changed. Despite eating well and exercising excessively, I gained weight, a lot of it rapidly. Later came diagnoses, chronic pain, hormonal issues, blood clots, another pregnancy, trauma, healing, survival.
My body was no longer something I could control.
So I had a choice.
I could spend the rest of my life hating myself, or I could learn to live alongside the body that had carried me through every single chapter of my life.
Do I love my body every day?
No.
Some days I feel powerful. Some days I hide in oversized pajamas because I donāt want to look at myself.
Whatās changed is that I no longer believe my worth is tied to my weight.
My body has carried children. It has survived trauma. It has endured illness, heartbreak, grief, joy, growth, and healing. It has kept me alive through every single version of myself.
Iāve also learned something society doesnāt like to acknowledgeā¦ health and body size are not always the same thing. People make assumptions about fat bodies every day. They assume laziness, poor health, poor choices, lack of discipline. They donāt see the whole story.
This body is not a before photo.
It is not a warning.
It is not a failure.
It is simply my body.
While I may still have complicated feelings about it, I refuse to spend my life waiting until Iām smaller to deserve being seen. I am worthy of existing exactly as I am, and so are you.g
