Loving the way we look is something that should come naturally, after all, we only get one body in this life so shouldnāt we worship it? But, with everyone on the gram being facetuned to perfection, it can be a little tricky to really love the skin weāre in. Scrolling through our feeds or flicking through the latest copy of our fave magazine, weāre bombarded with an idealised vision of beauty that only reflects a small portion of real people. The journey to self love can be a hard one. Weāre all fighting our own demons and dealing with years of built up body-hate. Itās so easy to focus on our flaws to the point where they become the only thing we see when we look in the mirror. But, more often than not, other people donāt even notice whatever it is weāre desperately trying to cover up with clothes or concealer. So, what steps can we take to start breaking down those walls weāve put up to hide our true selves? First of all, unfollow anyone on Instagram who makes you feel bad about the way you look. Why put yourself through that kind of torture on a daily basis? Instead, in the words of Marie Kondo, fill your feed with people who really spark joy. To help you on the way, weāve put together a few of our fave accounts that inspire us to feel good about ourselves, both on the inside and out. @nerdabouttownStephanie Yeboah is a plus size lifestyle and fashion blogger who's paving the way for curvy girl positivity. āSomething that really helped me on my journey to self love was seeing other fat women (especially black and POC women) in various states of undress onlineā she says. āIt empowered me, and made me feel normal. Seeing other women in their bikinis and underwear with their rolls, cellulite, stretch marks, hyperpigmentation and bellies on show normalised fat bodies for me and taught me not to feel ashamed in my own skin. I
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A post shared by Stephanie Yeboah (@nerdabouttown) on Mar 10, 2019 at 5:01am PDT
@bopo.boy The body positivity movement isnāt just all about women either, which self-confessed ābaby-face bopo warriorā Stevie tackles head on with his blog. āMen are expected to be strong, to be masculine, to have broad shoulders, 6 pack abs and a jawline longer than my life expectancy. But what if you donāt fit into that definition that society so unhelpfully sets out for us?ā he says.
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A post shared by Stevie (@bopo.boy) on Jan 27, 2019 at 12:00pm PST
@libbyshappyproject Libbyās an 18-year-old artist making some big waves in the scene with the ambition to ācreate honest, body positive, sex positive, human positive art, celebrating what it is to be alive - warts and all.ā Sheās ādetermined to prove to everybody that they are worthy of being turned into art, and that beauty and softness and wonder exists in every perceived āflawā.ā
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A post shared by Libby Phillips š she/her 18y/o (@libbyshappyproject) on Jan 3, 2019 at 10:38am PST
@jess_megan_ Jess is part of the @coppafeelpeople team that's all about raising awareness for checking your boobs and pecks regularly. She uses her platform to remind us that our ābody is not a billboardā. āYou shouldnāt feel expected to sell the perfect fantasyā she says, āstop getting bent out of shape about what average as fuck boys think of your powerful body.ā
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A post shared by Jessica Megan (@jess_megan_) on Mar 21, 2019 at 1:32pm PDT
@gracefvictory Blogging, healing, motivational speaking, podcasting - you name it, Grace does it. This woman is a serious force to be reckoned with. On the gram Grace shares what it means to be real, the ups, the downs and everything in between. Sheās all about body positivity, but also about accepting the days when you donāt love the skin youāre in, and how to work through the traumas that have caused this. In one recent post, Grace got real about the struggles of self-love, āif Iām honest, Iāve felt ugly all week,ā she says. āI couldnāt pull myself out of it, no matter what I did and how hard I tried. But, this morning I woke up and said āno more Grace, you need to remember that your are THAT biiiittccchhhhā.ā
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A post shared by Grace (@gracefvictory) on Dec 3, 2018 at 7:55am PST
@i_Weigh If youāve spent any time on the gram in the last couple of months then thereās no doubt you will have a seen a post or too from this account. Jameela Jamil is the powerhouse behind the movement that aims to make us āfeel valuable and see how amazing we are beyond the flesh on our bones.ā iWeigh is all about reclaiming our bodies from the media and redefining what it means to be beautiful. āI like myself in spite of everything Iāve been taught by the media to hate about myselfā she says.
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A post shared by I Weigh (@i_weigh) on Mar 5, 2019 at 8:00am PST
@saggysara Sara is doing the godās work when it comes to breaking down theĀ barriers built up by the perfectly photoshopped lives we see on Instagram. She uses her account to show how slight tricks of the camera or the way we pose for a photo can drastically alter our perception of how we look. āItās crazy how the smallest movements and positioning of our bodies can make us feel so different about how we see ourselvesā she says. āChallenge yourself to let go and realise it does not matter as much as you think, and that you can and are able to accept yourself as you are now.ā
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A post shared by Sara Puhto (@saggysara) on Sep 5, 2018 at 6:45am PDT
@thickleeyonce Beyonce who? Queen of our hearts is our āthick thighs save livesā sis Thickleeyonce. āThereās something special about being around women that look just like you,ā she says, āyouāre able to see your own beauty through them, this is why representation is important.ā āWe are constantly exposed to the same kind of beauty, day after day, and itās disheartening when you canāt even relate to it because you look nothing like the girls that the world glorifies.ā
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A post shared by thickleeyonce@gmail.com (@thickleeyonce) on Feb 25, 2019 at 5:11am PST
@celestebarber Taking the crown for providing all the laughs when it comes to the #bopo movement is Celeste. Celeste removes the filter from those perfectly ācandidā celebrity shots we see all over the gram and shows us that these are anything but real life. If youāre looking for a little pick-me-up, then this gal has got you covered.
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A post shared by Celeste Barber (@celestebarber) on Jan 30, 2019 at 11:10am PST
@love_disfigure People arenāt perfect, and neither are our bodies. Thereās a real lack of disability visibility in the media, and all too often these bodies are overlooked when it comes to promoting the beauty in our bodies. Sylvia Mac is a child burn survivor and campaigner whoās using her beautifully wholesome platform to promote body positivity for every body.
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A post shared by Love Disfigure (@love_disfigure) on Oct 26, 2018 at 12:54pm PDT
@mypaleskinblog Em Ford uses her gram to remind us that ābeing happy doesnāt mean that everything is perfect. It means that youāve decided to look beyond the imperfections.ā Sheās part of the #redefinepretty movement thatās storming the web rn and taking back the power to decide what beauty means. āYou donāt have to be āperfectā to be happyā she says. āYou donāt need to have āflawless skinā to be successful, and you certainly donāt have to change who you are to be ālikedā.ā
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A post shared by Em Ford (@mypaleskinblog) on Aug 31, 2018 at 1:02pm PDT
Ā
Most importantly, remember that anyone whoās going to judge you for the way you look, or the way you don't look, isn't the kind of person you want in your life anyway. When it comes to the way you look, the only person whose opinion matters, is you.