Recently, it’s been about two degrees warmer in the UK than it is usually. And this, along with slightly more daylight hours, has got me thinking about holidays!

I’m going to Florida this year. I’ll be visiting my favourite parks – Universal Islands of Adventure, Magic Kingdom, etc – as well as visiting Volcano Bay for the first time. Pete and I will even be looking at wedding venues for May 2019! (ACCKK!!! Exciting!)

But there is one part of going somewhere warm that women around the world DREAD.

And that is trying their holiday clothes on.

But this year… for perhaps one of the first times ever – I liked my body.

But before I get into that, let’s review the holiday clothes situation for us British dwellers.

Holiday clothes vs. UK clothes

So if you’re from UK, I imagine that your holiday clothes might appear, on average, for four weeks a year out of 52. It’s just how it is here. Even warm days have cold nights, and it’s risky business leaving the house without a jacket. You’re taking your life into your own hands.

But the weather here means that a lot of our ‘problem areas’ usually get hidden.

I use the punctuation marks around those words, because our bodies are perfect and deserved to be treasured for their uniqueness. In fact, I’ll let you in on a secret – there aren’t really ‘problems’ with your body aesthetically at all.

The issues you have with your body stem from media and businesses around the world telling you that you have to look a certain way. And they make money from it. Even Sliming World and Weight Watchers are businesses trying to make a profit. So by telling you that cellulite is wrong, that having a stomach that sticks out is wrong, that wobbling when you walk is WRONG, they profit off of you and ultimately make you hate yourself.

Well, guess what?

They’ve been lying to you for their own financial gain.

They’ve been lying to us ALL.

And you can choose to ignore what they’re telling you and accept your amazing body.

It’s time to reclaim our bodies

Before I go any further with this, I just want to point out that I spent/wasted six years of my life panicking every second of every day about what I was putting into my mouth.

In short, I had an eating disorder. And despite the fact everyone told me I looked good, it was the worst six years of my life. I found a note I wrote to myself the other day highlighting just how depressed I was. Perhaps one day I’ll share it.

But, for now, I’d say I’ve been in recovery for around three years. I’m now on a ‘diet’ called eat whatever the FUCK you want. And it has taken me so long to get here. But I did it and I’m happy.

Yet when it comes to trying holiday clothes on I still get apprehensive.

I’m probably the heaviest I’ve ever been right now. And I say probably, because after weighing myself more than 1-2 times a day for 6 years, I don’t weigh myself at all anymore. So I can never really know.

But the funniest thing has happened to me.

I put on my holiday clothes – specifically my hot pants  – and I LIKED what I saw.

After parading around the room in them (wondering if a boomerang on insta would be too much), I then proceeded to put on some longer shorts that I used to wear to hide my cellulite and wobbly thighs and I looked… crap.

Yes, they were hiding my so called ‘problem areas’ but by doing that I was wearing a cut that didn’t suit my shape. And it was ultimately making me feel less confident.

So this year, I’m gonna wear my damn hot pants, cellulite and wobbly legs on show an all. And for the first time in perhaps 26 years, I’m happy with me.

And if you too show off your ‘problem areas’ and reclaim your body for exactly what it is, then maybe we can start shifting perceptions to what they should have been all along. That every body is BEAUTIFUL.

Basically, it’s time to wake up and enjoy our holidays without worrying about our bodies. Wear what makes you feel confident, and don’t be told by someone else how you should feel because you get to decide that.

And the sooner we reclaim our bodies and accept them, the sooner perceptions will start to shift, and the happier we’ll all be.

So join me this summer and wear your god-damn hot pants.