Jane: This girl's simple message about self-acceptance is inspiring
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Jane: This girl's message about self-acceptance is inspiring

Updated | By Jane Linley-Thomas

Instead of allowing her friend's harsh words to get to her, this girl decided to take the time to share a truly inspiring message about being comfortable with your body.

girl cant close dress up
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I love this girl's openness and honesty.  

Read: Teen girl handles haters in most sophisticated and mature way ever

Lucy Litman has struggled with her weight and eating issues for most of her life. A friend of hers made a comment about her putting on weight, which really affected her, and got her thinking about her body and the struggles she has had to go through.

Read: KZN women and Jane #GetReal by recreating the March Vogue cover shoot

Little did she know that the comment her friend made would circulate the world over. I mean, really, what 'friend' tells you that 'you have let yourself go'?! This girl hardly looks like she has lost her self-control?

closet cleaning reflections: here's a picture of me in my favorite dress from 3 years ago. It's a size 2 and doesn't even come close to zipping right now. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my body image and health, after a "friend" told me that I've let myself go and should stop eating so much bread. I don't really talk about this much (or ever publicly) but I struggled with an eating disorder all throughout high school and college and was in and out of different therapies and centers. I used to weigh myself 5 times a day and the number I saw would dictate my happiness and the activities I "allowed" myself to do. This restriction on my own happiness and life ended a lot of friendships and relationships because I'd isolate myself at home so I didn't have to be around food. A lot of my work that I share here is inspired by this experience - food wasn't always a happy thing for me, and for many friends and family food still isn't fun - so I'm hoping to show a more playful side to what we eat and get people thinking about colors, shapes and textures instead of calories or how much exercise they'll have to do to burn it off. I'm happy to say that I now have the healthiest relationship with food I've ever had, but to all of you out there who are still struggling, know that you're more than a number and that having a thigh gap is irrelevant (and physically impossible for some people's bone structure), but most importantly that you are not alone and are loved 💕

A post shared by lucy litman (@lucialitman) on

Let's be honest: there is nothing like fitting into a piece of clothing a few years old. A few weeks ago, I squeezed myself into a dress that I wore to my 30th birthday. The feeling was fantastic, even though my breathing was a tad shallow. 

Also read: Mama June shares pictures of her dramatic weight loss transformation

I think in closing, we should all be careful with the words that we use. Each one of us is on a journey daily. In a world where you can be anything, we should all choose to be kind.

jane linley thomas 30 years dress
Jane Linley-Thomas

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