If brands are making women feel bad about their bodies its because women aren't happy in themselves and have low self esteem and they need to work on that

I don't like to write about body image but I am so incredibly sick of hearing about Dove and Victoria's Secret along with other companies like Top Shop being criticised for showing skinny models and according to website, Mamamia, "making women feel shit about their bodies". 

It's getting annoying hearing all this rubbish about how everybody's individual shape should be embraced and that we should be happy as we are.

Before I proceed, I've been every single weight imaginable.  As a kid I was skinny, then I became "the fat kid", then I had an eating disorder (bulimia, borderline anorexia and extreme dieting).  After that I was obese before being told publicly, in an acting class to lose weight.  When I tell people that story they think "oh that's so horrible" but it isn't.  The teacher who "fat shamed" me actually did me a favour.  I went home and something shifted.  I'd known I was obese but hadn't been willing and ready to do something about it.  The acting teacher gave me the push I needed.  Because of my history with eating disorders, and obesity is as much an eating disorder as anorexia and bulimia I knew that if I was going to lose weight and keep it off I had to do it the healthy way.  So at that moment I started going to the gym and working out.  I also modified my diet.  I decided then and there that if I was going to lose weight and keep it off I had to do it the healthy way.  Two years later and it's still off.

When I see headlines like, "stop making women feel shit about themselves" I get so annoyed because that's not what healthy eating and physical health is about and the reality is, if you feel shit about yourself it's because YOU feel shit BECAUSE OF YOU, not because of a mannequin in a shop.  If you're insecure about your body because of a mannequin then sorry, I have some news for you, you're not comfortable in your own skin.  You can only be truly happy in your own skin and not care about a mannequin in a shop when you take care of your body.

I'm not a stick figure.  I'm a healthy weight but mannequins and models don't affect me because I choose not to let them affect me.  I care more about my performance at the gym and I care more about maintaining a healthy weight.  To put it another way, if you don't look after your body then it's like anti obesity campaigner Katie Hopkins says, you will feel miserable about yourself.  I had a month without going to the gym due to financial reasons and I started going again a couple of weeks ago and my physical strength has improved.  This message seems to be lost in the mainstream media.

I am sick to death of reading articles about women feeling shit about their bodies because health isn't about that.  If you know you're healthy then you'll be happy and you won't care about a mannequin in a shop.  I think also that obesity has become so common it's been normalised and we've lost the true reason people should exercise and eat healthily.  It's because if you're not healthy you're going to be lethargic.  There's nothing quite like exceeding your personal expectations at the gym or knowing you're eating healthily.

Until we return to a message of health (BMI 18-25, the only people who say the BMI is rubbish are those who are in denial, which we all have been at some point in our lives) people will never be happy in themselves.  And the reality is, obesity doesn't sell and it shouldn't be promoted, just as anorexia shouldn't be.  The only way you can truly live a healthy life is to ensure you eat a healthy balanced diet and exercise regularly - that means not eating junk food just because it's there or skipping out on the gym.  Being healthy and promoting a message of health will also reduce instances of eating disorders and we need a mental shift or that won't happen; for example, if you have been obese then instead of just losing the physical weight, work out why you gained it in the first place and then you're more likely to keep it off.  This is something that Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and all good gyms like Fitness First will promote.