By Ellison Chen from SatherHealth.org

I am b-e-a-utiful!

Yes, you said it; you are beautiful and perfectly imperfect in every way possible.

When I went home for the holidays, the first thing I did was weigh myself. As I approached my scale with trepidation, my mind flashed back to the times when I got over five plates of food at dinner and rode the elevator to avoid walking up a single flight of stairs. Then, I saw it. I had indeed gained weight. Immediately, I felt heavier, my body weighing me down like never before; I have never regret eating all those sweet potato fries more than this moment. I was angry and disappointed in myself. I was warned time and time again of the Freshmen 15 but I had evidently done little to avoid it. Why wasn’t I more disciplined? Why didn’t I have more self-control? Why am I so fat?

Going out with my friends from high school the next day, I felt worse. Not only did they not seem to have gained a pound, they looked thinner, fit, and more radiant than ever under the soft SoCal sun. Though I was proud of how valiantly they had fended off the unforgiving college dining halls, I can’t help but realize how completely defeated I was.

With the latent desire to make myself skinny, I ended the day early with friends despite their protest and began my desperate strive for a flatter stomach, thinner legs, and possibly an actually beautiful version of myself. Stomping on the treadmill till my knees gave out, I was determined to change my body and look just as good as my friends the next time we got together. For days, the treadmill became my best friend and the gym was our favorite place to hangout. After much diet and exercise, I went out again.

And again, my friends looked amazing and I didn’t. But at the end of the day, as I felt incompetent once again, my real best friend told me a shocking truth. Apparently, ever since our initial hangout, my friends were surprised by how college had made me overall better. Though I protested about how much weight I gained, she told me that it was hardly noticeable and it wasn’t what mattered.

Gaining a little weight in college is a natural occurrence everyone encounters. But the maturity, experiences, and knowledge we gain with those few pounds make us more beautiful than any weight loss program can ever promise. Unlike the mirror, people see more to us than just our superficial appearances. They see our quirky personalities, our unstoppable ambitions, and our mesmerizing iridescence.

The truth is, you will be faced with times in which you are ashamed of your body. But moments like those will pass and you’ll realize that Bruno Mars was right, you really are amazing just the way you are. After all, you already know you are beautiful and no one can tell you any different. If you don’t believe me, read this post again and you’ll know I’m right after just one sentence.

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