I Hit The Gym In Just Sports Bra For A Month— Here’s What Happened

As unhealthy (and somewhat shameful) as it is, I spend a massive portion of my waking hours scrolling through Instagram. Okay, I know what you’re thinking: it’s not an addiction, I swear. Well, maybe it is, but that’s a topic for another day. Back to the topic at hand — if I am to believe the fitness content which Instagram delivers to me, women who work out in the gym are sun-kissed health goddesses who perpetually sport chiseled abs and perfectly curled eyelashes. They also happen to be so confident in their own skin that they’re comfortable with working out in just a sports bra. With leggings, of course. What were you thinking?

I can’t recall the exact moment where I started to have issues with the way my body looked, but I’m almost certain it was somewhere around puberty where, you know, boys started showing interest in girls and I realised that my body was always a little too something for the boys.

I was too tall, too hairy (not even embarrassed to put this on the World Wide Web — sorry, Mom!), too chunky around the thighs, too broad at the shoulders, too fat at the arms, etc.

To sum it all up, my body was not appealing.

For years, I internalised that thought, and it showed in the way I dressed. My arms were “huge” in comparison to other girls, and I fervently shunned wearing tank tops in fears of…