BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE | Dana Linn Bailey

This spoke volumes for me, I adore Dana Linn Bailey.  She has to be one of THE most hard working, disciplined and honest women on the face of the planet.  To know she has gone through such body image struggles, well she is like the rest of us.



To see what she deals with on a daily basis through social media is heartbreaking.  People can be so incredibly cruel, attacking someone through the internet, I don't get it.  We are all different shapes and sizes, support one another and stop the attacks.



I am still a newbie in the fitness industry, I don't necessarily know when I won't feel like a newbie but believe that I still am.  I have already had thoughts of breast implants.  It is hard when I lose my breasts, good because my body fat is lower but still hard to lose them and see others with these perfect breast to go along with their amazing bodies.  Do I need those to do well and succeed???



NO.  I don't need them, my husband doesn't want me to have them, my family and friends would tell me I do not need them in order to succeed.  This fitness world is a tough one, but if you find the right people and work hard believe me you do not need breast implants to succeed and Dana Linn Bailey is living proof of that.



People have approached me about buying products from them to get rid of stretch marks.  I politely decline the offer, first of all I am lucky and my stretch marks are very light and they fade as I lean out.  Secondly I would much rather spend my money on new workout clothes or supplements or headphones!  Will they ever be completely gone?  Nope.  I am perfectly fine with that.  I have stretch marks on my hips and thighs from the leg growth I had in high school, all across my lower abs from being pregnant with our beautiful daughter, on my breasts from the growth they had when I breast fed our daughter.  Believe me I had thoughts before about trying to get rid of them, but WHY?



All my life I have strived for "perfection" in myself.  How strange that once I began my journey in this world, I have learned the most about myself and that there is no such thing as "perfection".  The women I look up to all have something in common, they are honest, they talk about the ups but more about the downs of this industry just to keep people informed.



Occasionally I still have thoughts about wishing I would have started this journey when I was younger, but then again I am so thankful I didn't.  The younger me would have given into some of the hype about what others are doing and how they are making themselves look so "perfect".  My hard work and discipline give me the confidence I need, no surgery or wrap is going to do that for me personally.  There is nothing wrong with any woman who does choose to get implants or take measures to get rid of her stretch marks, we are each our own person.  Just for myself, I don't need all that.



I believe that all the good coming my way right now is due to the strong drive I have, the hard work I have put in and will continue to put in and the fact that I will never give up.  Someday people may make remarks on my social media accounts about my body and they may be mean and uncalled for.  I hope that if it ever does happen I can have the same poise and "f*ck it attitude" that Dana has.



Love yourself, be proud of who you are and always, always be respectful even if someone doesn't look the way you think they should or make the choices you would make.