"I am what I am and I'm proud of me''

A very good friend of mine put out a social media post last year about body shaming.

This friend happily admits she doesn't have what society perceives as the 'perfect' body. Maybe she's carrying a few 'extra' pounds. Maybe she doesn't fit into society's image of the 'perfect' shape and size. But her post was all about saying 'So f...... what?' I am who I am, I'm proud of being me and I'm not going to change for anyone.''

This friend makes her living out of social media. Her face is all over the interweb; if she wanted, she could Photoshop every image and magically 'lose' a few extra pounds from around her face, her stomach; she could 'artificially' lose a couple of bra sizes. But she chooses not to. She chooses to show people the 'real' version of her.

Naturists will understand that instantly; disabled naturists even more so. I do talks about naturism to business networking events, trying to encourage people to take a much more positive attitude to their bodies.

I make the point that there are seven billion different people on this planet, with seven billion different body shapes. We can't all be perfect and even if we could, what is 'perfect' anyway? I am 5ft 7ins tall and before being diagnosed with epilepsy in 2007, I weighed roughly 9st 7lbs. The tablets I have to take to keep the epilepsy at bay are packed with weight-gaining steroids. As a result of taking them, I put on 2st in about 18 months. The tablets I have to take after my stroke are also full of steroids.

Does that bother me? Well, in 2007, I had to throw out almost an entire wardrobe of clothes and start again. I could have let my 'new' body get me down. But what was the point? The tablets were keeping me alive. Take them and stay alive, or ignore them and keep my old 'better' body? No contest, isn't it?

A female friend of mine ballooned to over 400lbs after her stroke and has been left with severe body dysmorphia as a result. She now goes to the gym every day and is losing a lot of weight. But I've seen her nude and I don't think she has anything to stress about. As my social-media friend said in her post: "I am what I am, I'm proud of being me and I'm not going to change for anyone.''

Which sums up the naturist lifestyle perfectly for me.

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