I've been on Tumblr for awhile (carlyeatworld.tumblr.com) and since I tend to follow a lot of fashion blogs, I see a lot of other blogs that have to do with someone wanting so badly to be thin. I know that there's also a lot of starvation blogs where girls actually track and blog about their weight, what they're eating (or not eating), and everything else. How horrible is that? Honestly. It makes me so upset to see girls, and I'm sure some boys, that unhappy with the body that they were born into. I have to say that I've been through that. I can say though, that I have never gone so far as to even go a day without eating anything. Haha, I'm pretty sure I couldn't. But I have been through the sudden realization of what you actually look like. When I turned 13, that's where I started noticing it. Everyone had always told me that my best friend and I looked alike. I never saw it, but she's drop dead gorgeous, so I didn't complain. This was when we were 12, so as we got older, I started noticing even more that she was a stick, and I, well, wasn't. There were even mean comments talking about how if me and her were a tree, I'd be the stump, and she'd be the branches. I hope I don't have to explain that... Anyways, that killed me. It made me so self-conscious. I tried changing my hair the summer before 7th grade by putting a lot of blonde in it, so much that I was almost completely blonde. I basically hated it so much. I felt so ugly and different from the other girls. They were all so thin, had perfect hair, and I didn't. I was so frustrated. I was also freaking out over gymnastics, and wanting to quit. I couldn't take it anymore. I cried everyday when I got home from school, refused to go to gymnastics, everything. That's when I realized something (with the help of my amazing mom), and that was, if I didn't like something about myself and my life, then I should change it. So my mom made a hair appointment, and I made the decision to take a break from gymnastics for awhile. I was actually starting to become happier. I dyed my hair red because the blonde wasn't working for me, and I had already had brown. I loved it, and I've had it ever since. About a month later, Caitlin had asked me to join the band, so I did, after a lot of convincing. Thank goodness she did, because I don't know what I'd do without it. I found myself, and although I'm still not the skinniest girl ever, and I still get frustrated about how I look, I am definitely not as self-conscious as before. I make decisions that will make me happy. Because if I'm happy, why should it matter to anyone else how I look?

This post is for every girl or guy that goes through this. Because I know that we all do. It's part of life. If you ever feel like this, the best advice I could give is to change something up with your look, and that you're crazy beautiful. I know it's cliche, but it's so true. If someone doesn't like you because of how you dress, how you look, or what you do, then there's no point in associating yourself with them. Don't ever feel the need to starve yourself. You just have to remember that you are so much better than that. And there are plenty of people that love you for who you are. You have to be happy, and there's no way you will ever be satisfied if you end up starving yourself. You are only hurting yourself for basically no reason. Be healthy and happy, and exactly who you want to be, whenever you want to be. And the rest will fall into place.

xo Carly