If you hadn’t noticed, there has been a little bit of a shortage of The Body Diaries coming your way recently. Rather than posting these weekly, I’ve changed them to monthly. Now that little bit of admin is out of the way, I hope you’re ready for your monthly sprinkle of body positivity. This month, I was chatting with the wonderful Georgia: a girl whose wardrobe I envy, enjoys prosecco and loves animals.
Give my readers a little introduction to you. Who are you and what are you about?
Hi readers! My name is Georgia and I’m a 21 year old girl from Buckinghamshire. I’ve recently graduated from uni, having completed a psychology and philosophy degree. I have just started a new job in publishing! To describe myself slightly less formally, I’m very family orientated, I like pizza more than I like boys, I’m loud but self-conscious and I tend to spend my spare time either drunk or watching unlikely animal friendships on YouTube.
How would you describe your relationship with your body?
My relationship with my body is a tricky one. I’ve spent over £6,000 on trying to look better, ranging from plastic surgery to slimming pills – so I suppose I would describe myself as very insecure. When it comes to my weight, I go through phases. Sometimes I can put a photo on Instagram and think, ‘yeah, you look good’, and other times I feel so physically repulsed by my figure that I would hate myself for it. As a result, my diet is pretty much all over the place – especially as I LOVE food. I’ll either be eating a ton of takeaways or be on a strict meal plan, which usually depends on my mood. I think most people can relate to the vicious cycle of eating because you feel like shit and then feeling like shit because you’ve just eaten your entire fridge.
However, things aren’t all bad and I can feel really good about myself – so it’s a bit of a yoyo! I’ve noticed that if I’m feeling really happy generally, then I tend to be kinder towards myself. Equally, periods of anxiety/low self-esteem almost always make me feel worse about myself and how I look. Ultimately, I think it’s all about how you feel towards yourself, and I’m definitely on the road to feeling happy and confident, no matter what size I am.
Tell me which 3 parts of yourself that you love the most?
I would say that I love my bum the most… I’ve always been bottom heavy so I was very happy when that came into fashion! Secondly, I would say my eyes. Finally (and slightly weirdly), I like my feet. They just freak me out less than other feet and they’re pretty small so I almost always find shoes in my size.
Slightly veering off topic, but it’s funny how a question like this makes people feel uneasy with fear of sounding big headed. We’re so programmed not to make these kinds of self-love comments, but they are super important! I hope that eventually girls (including myself) will feel just as comfortable listing things they like about themselves as they can things which they don’t like.
What is your go-to outfit that makes you feel like you’re the hottest person on earth?
So I’m torn between either my can-barely-breath midi dress or my leather leggings and black lace top! Both are very different, but definitely my faves.
How do you try and get over the bad days you have with your body?
Recently, I’ve been trying to remember that even if I’m bigger than usual, this doesn’t automatically mean I don’t look ok. I’ve been learning to remind myself that my relationship with my body depends almost solely on my attitude towards it, and I’ll be happier if I didn’t respond with immediate self-deprecation after gaining a few pounds.
I also think about how I would never look at someone else and think to judge them, or think they were anything other than gorgeous. So I try to treat myself with that same respect. No one is scrutinising you or judging you as much as you are yourself. Someone could say to me that they hate the way they look and I find it so shocking and sad. I wish they could see what everyone else sees – so that’s the attitude we need to start having with ourselves. We need to be our own supporter and not the person that brings us down the most.
What tips would you give your 12-year-old self about body confidence?
I would tell her to go easy on herself. I always felt so ugly growing up, which made me think people wouldn’t want to speak to me. That’s so sad now I look back on it. I would also tell her not to take other people’s opinions to heart.
I had no confidence, whatsoever, as a kid. This led to me changing parts of myself so drastically. I managed to even hospitalise myself twice; once intentionally (having a nose job at 19) and once unintentionally (ending up with second degree burns after my newest beauty measure went very wrong). I’ve learnt a lot from my years of trying to build a relationship with myself and my body, and although I wouldn’t say I’m 100% there, I’m definitely happier. It sounds incredibly cliche – but we are all fabulous in our own way, and the more we build each other up, the better things will get. I think there has definitely been a great shift in attitude between women. We are becoming less judgemental and more empowering to each other – go team!
If you fancy seeing more of Georgia, you can find her on Instagram and Twitter! Make sure you leave Georgia some love in the comments.
Hannah x
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Let me know what you think?