#NOBS might seem like an inappropriate term, but in fact, it’s not. According to nobodyshame.com, “No Body Shame” is a campaign founded by Whitney Way Thore to help men and women of EVERY variety - different weights, heights, skin colors, sexual orientations, abilities, and other physical traits - to love and live their lives free of shame. Thore’s “A Fat Girl Dancing” video went viral on YouTube in January 2014, and since then, her life has never been the same. Following the video’s publicity, Thore became the star of the hit TLC reality show “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”, which showcases Thore’s family, friends, dance career, and journey to mental, physical, and emotional health.

Many people have expressed envy of the confidence that Thore portrays throughout her personal and professional life. The “No Body Shame” campaign is meant to inspire people into being who they want to be without having to worry about the confines of today’s society. When people commit themselves to living their best lives, accepting themselves as they are, even if others do not accept them, real changes in confidence and quality of life are not only possible, but imminent.

From personal experience, it is really hard to accept and be content with myself when society is telling me that I have to be a certain way. Until recently, I thought that I was inferior to everyone because of how I looked, and it killed my self-esteem, self-worth, and confidence for quite a long time. At times, it still does bother me because I spent so long telling myself that it wasn’t okay to look like, feel like, and be whatever I wanted to be. For those of you out there who are like me, I want you to know: when you finally realize what you're worth and that you are, in fact, beautiful, your outlook on life gets better. You might be different, but being different isn’t a bad thing.

For anyone that might be dealing with any type of self-hate, just know that it eventually does get better. It might take quite a long time, but it will get better. Having a negative or a positive outlook, for me, didn’t help. Because anytime that I had a positive outlook, something would happen and it would just ruin whatever positive outlook I had. Self-love doesn’t happen overnight either, but it does get better.