Told by: Former Fearless Focus Student, Brenna Roberts
As a young girl, I would spend a lot of time looking at myself in the bathroom mirror wondering why I didn’t have a flat stomach like the other girls my age. I questioned why my thighs were so big and why my shoulders came so high off my body.
I have been a competitive swimmer since I was 6. I trained tirelessly to be the best because I have a competitive nature in me and a fire to be the best. But with that came the questions of why I didn’t fit into clothes that my friends were wearing. In high school was the time I really struggled. I would go from high school swim practice for an hour to club swim practice for two hours then would come home and wouldn’t eat because this was the only way I thought I could obtain that flat stomach. I obsessed over it.
While I grew to love my big thighs & strong shoulders I always nit picked my stomach and how it looked when I was at the beach or in certain clothing. I spent a lot of my adolescence hating my body instead of loving it and fueling it with kind words and good food.
Senior year of high school it all changed. I received a scholarship to a division one school for swimming and that was when I truly realized how amazing my body was. It got me to this point. From then on, I have tried my best to give my body the love it deserves. I have fallen in love with being strong instead of being skinny because strong is beautiful and it shows how amazing our bodies truly are.
On top of being self conscious of my body, I also struggled with being self conscious about my personality. I have always been loud, outgoing and energetic. But I thought that this annoyed people so I spent a lot of my adolescence trying to fit in with everyone else as well instead of letting my true personality shine. That and trying to be “skinny” are my two biggest regrets.
I will never ever let someone dictate who I am or how I look again.
If I could give any advice to any other young girls or boys; 1.) use your words. They are powerful and you can make a difference. 2.) love your body the way it deserves. This body is the only one you have and you don’t get a redo. Love your body and it will love you back.
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