Curly N Curvy: an awesome beach body

TNC fam, meet my girl Zadry! Another living proof that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes! That gorgeous woman is filled with sunshine so if you want your daily dose, go subscribe to her life and style blog Curves à la mode! Meanwhile, here’s a little ray of light to brighten your day 😉

Hey beautiful people! My name is Zadry ― pronounced Za·dree but you can call me Z for short and my little piece of the web is Curves à la Mode.

I’ve been short and curvy all my life which has lead to me trying every fad diet known to man, from Adkins to just drinking cabbage soup for 3 days, and I’ve yo-yo’d from a size 14 to 18 all in the name of beauty. It took me a long time to realize that the beauty I was searching for was based on someone else’s standards. I was trying to mold my body into something it was never meant to be and every single time I “failed” I felt depressed and hated my body just a little more– of course being hungry all the time just added to the misery. It got to the point that I hated shopping for clothes and would leave the store in tears every single time. Until one night while browsing the internet I came across all these amazing plus size blogs with these fierce curvy women that looked just like me. That’s the amazing thing about seeing your body represented in a positive way, you start seeing yourself through different and loving eyes. We all deserve that, whether your short and slim or tall and curvy or all of the ones in between, All of us are beautiful in our own unique way and it’s time we celebrated those differences and loved ourselves and our bodies just as they are this very moment.

You want to know how to have an awesome beach body in 3 easy steps?

• Have a body. Yep as easy as that- I think 99.9%  of us have that covered, I’m leaving the .1%  as a margin of error.
• Put on a swimsuit. This step might be a little trickier for some due to the extensive choices– are you a onepiece, monikini, bikni or tankini kind of girl? Unless you’re a nudist, in that case skip step 2 and head straight to step 3.
• Go to the beach. Set your inhibitions free, soak in the sunshine and have fun!

And I know, you’re probably thinking “girl! that’s easier said than done” and you’re right. Heck! it took me seven years to get myself back into a swimsuit. Living in Miami is beautiful but the combination of heat and humidity is no joke. So now imagine living in tropical temperatures year round and spending your days covered in layers because of body image issues, but like anything else in life baby steps will get you there.

My first step started with setting a foot in the sand, I mean yes there was a bathing suit underneath but I needed warm up time. You can’t expect a girl to just strip it all off right away we were just getting to know each other again. So I guess you can say that on that day I seduced the beach. Fifteen minutes into “the seduction” which was basically me sitting on my beach towel I finally psyched myself up and off came the dress. And there I was sitting on the beach in a swimsuit for the first time in a long time…and it felt wonderful!

The path to self-love can be a long journey, with it’s own set of paths and obstacles for each of us. I’ve been blogging for almost 3 years now, and as Curves à la Mode has grown so have I. Sharing my struggles and thoughts have helped me on my path towards self-love. I hope that it has served as inspiration for some of you as well. One of my biggest leaps toward a healthier body image and self-esteem has been my “beach body” progress.

Last year in May, I posted my first swimsuit post, “Sun Is Shining“, and I shared some photos of the day, as well as the experience of being back in a swimsuit after years of hiding myself because I hadn’t reached that “perfect summer body”. I captured photos of myself rocking my new hat as well as small glimpses of my legs and me rocking my new S4A + Gabifresh Galaxy one piece. But missing from my empowerment moment was a full body picture.

I had a fabulous day, but getting up in front of a beach full of people to pose for a picture was still something I shied away from. Instead, I sat in my own little spot of the beach with my hubby and sister-in-law and used my phone to capture candid moments of the day.

After my post went up, I began realizing that I had more work to do on myself. And that was okay. I can’t expect for years of body image issues to disappear just like that. It takes time and work, and sometimes it takes baby steps to guide you down the long winding path to a healthier mindset.

Last month, almost one year to the date of my swimsuit post, I went away for a mini getaway with some girlfriends. And I thought it would be the perfect time to break-in two of my favorite new swimsuits from S4A. This time around I had a chat with myself about the importance of enjoying the moment, and capturing it so that I could share it with you on the blog.

This time there was no second guessing, no sitting on the sidelines. I swam, danced, laughed, heck! I even exercised.

No apologies to anyone for loving my body and enjoying my time with my friends. And no cares in the world for who may have thought this plus size woman should be covered or hiding under layers of clothes.

And best of all this season, I also rocked my first fatkini and you know what the world didn’t stop and even if it did, I wouldn’t have cared because in my universe the skies were blue and the stars were aligned perfectly.

I’m sharing all of this because I want you to know we’re on this journey together, my lovelies! You and me and every woman out there, plus size and not, that has decided to reclaim her freedom to love her body and live her life without apologies, we’re breaking down walls together and it feels amazing.

Until next time my lovelies– remember to be kind and loving to yourselves,

Zadry