BELLA DAVIS

I grew up believing I was only deserving of love if I was thin because the media made me think a person is only desirable at a certain weight and size. When I started dating, a partner told me they’d leave if I didn’t lose weight, which deepened my insecurities and reinforced these beliefs. The media portrayed weight gain as letting yourself go, and therefore letting your partner down. After hearing this repeatedly—from partners, media, society and magazines, I began to internalized it. I believed my weight determined my worth and that if I wasn’t thin, I was worthless. It’s sad to reflect on how much I based my value on my appearance, and even sadder to see how society still measures worth and beauty by weight, with fatphobia still prevalent. I know how hard it is to see these messages and I understand why we grew up thinking weight gain made us unworthy of love. But it’s important to know that love isn’t earned by your waist size or the number on a scale. The idea that your worth increases as your body size decreases is a harmful lie created by society and the media. Your value isn’t tied to physical appearance—it’s in your kindness, humor, compassion, and uniqueness. When someone truly loves you, they love every part of you—every inch, roll, and dimple. They cherish your personality, your heart, and your soul. They love you for how you make them feel, the way you think, and how you care for others. So remember you are enough exactly as you are. You don’t need to shrink or remain the same size in order to be loved.

I cried creating this 🥺 let me tell you why… I used to scroll through photos of women, wishing I had their nose, lips, or eyes. At events, I’d look at other girls and wish my hair looked like theirs or that I had their flawless skin. I’d stand in front of the mirror, telling myself I looked ugly and wishing I was as pretty as everyone else. Maybe you’ve felt the same. Maybe you’ve wanted to look like someone else too. But what I realised is that every time I criticised my face for not looking like theirs, I was also criticising the people I come from. Because even if I don’t look like those girls, I look a like the people who love and have loved me and that is beautiful. Because to me they are the most beautiful people ever. Your face is the result of generations of people that have loved each other before. Every line, scar, and spot tells a story, of smiles, tears, and laughter. Your nose might resemble a grandparents, your mouth may be similar to your parents and your eyes could remind you of your siblings. If we saw our faces for what they really are, a reflection of love and history then we might stop wishing to look like someone else. We might even realise that we are just as beautiful as they are. Inspired by the wonderful @lucy_xfit

These are real statements exes once said to me. After my last failed relationship, I gave up on finding a forever love. I became convinced that I was “too much” for someone else too emotional, too loud, too weird, too soft in the wrong places. Just too “me.” It’s tough not to think this way when society keeps drilling into us that we need to shrink ourselves both physically and mentally to be loveable, attractive and easy to be with. Previous partners tried to mould me into a someone they wanted to be with. They tried to make me not so ‘me’. They belittled my achievements, body and personality. Which left me feeling uncomfortable and anxious in the relationship. Although when i met liam something felt different. He didnt tell me i was too loud, soft or weird. He didn’t tell me i was embarrassing him when i would randomly break out dancing in the street in fact he joined me. He never said id be prettier if i was thinner and he never told me i was being ‘too much’. After meeting liam i realised something. there is no such thing as being ‘too much’ for the right person. So believe me when i say, all those quirky things you do or say well that’s what someone will love about you because that’s what makes us well, us! And guess what? We are each worthy of healthy love, no matter our body shape, scars, trauma and quirks. I promise you the right person won’t ever think you are ‘too much’ and will love you the way you deserve to be loved. Because you DO deserve to be loved exactly as you are. You DO deserve to be seen in all your softness and glory. You DO deserve to be held. I promise you. Now hold yourself a little tighter and love yourself a little more. You deserve it.

A special day celebrating love! 🥹 ✨Me wearing the most beautiful dress i have ever worn ❤️ Liam and I looking cute 🍾 The beautiful bride and groom!! 🪩 Cheeseburgers as a late night snack 🥰 Another photo of me because why not Ps. Liam broke the top of my dress trying to do up the invisible zipper so there’s some reality for you queens 😅

This is how my body looks simply existing. These are the features I see every day, normal, natural, human. You might not notice them in a photo or video, but they’re always there. And just like me, you may have them too. Skin folds, fat, dimples, softness, hair, stretch marks, scars. These aren’t flaws. They’re just the things bodies do. Features that make up your body. Instead of criticising, comparing, or judging your body, I encourage you to get to know it. Explore it. Touch it. Feel it. Really look at it. Trace the dimples on your thighs and notice how they resemble crashing waves, shifting, flowing, effortlessly part of you. Hold your softness and feel how it moves with you, how it settles and changes, how it belongs. Take a moment to appreciate your body, not as something to fix, but as something that carries you through every single day. A body lined with stories and memories. A body that deserves to seen and appreciated exactly as it is ❤️

This kind of content is terrifying because it reveals a harsh truth: as women we are often treated as objects, our worth is measured by how closely we fit a narrow, unrealistic ideal. We aren’t treated with rrespect. We aren’t seen as full, complex human beings. We are seen as things to use—things that should remain unchanged. Women are praised when they fit the mould, but the moment their bodies inevitably change—as all bodies do—they’re shamed, criticised, and accused of “letting themselves go.” They’re told they must look a certain way to be worthy of love, to be accepted, to simply exist beside a man. As if their value is tied to how thin they are. This is the reality for so many women because this is how society speaks about and treats our bodies—as if they exist for public approval. Is it any wonder we grew up fearing weight gain when we were taught that our worth was tied to the size of our bodies? But let me tell you something: there are people who will love you for you—not for the shape of your body, not for how well you fit into someone else’s standard, but for who you are. You may have to sift through the dirt to find them (I did), but they exist. So remember to love yourself so fiercely that no one can extinguish your fire.

My body is different from the thinner one I used to live in. Softer, rounder, curvier. Some days, I struggle to embrace it, but I refuse to feel guilty for gaining weight or to hate this body. Through every heartbreak, milestone, and health scare, this body has carried me. It has danced, rested, healed, and kept me going. It had to grow, and I’m grateful I let it. Because life is more than the size of your waist, and soft bodies are just as loveable, beautiful, and worthy of joy. Your body will change. It’s meant to. Growth comes with change, even when it feels uncomfortable. Unlearning the belief that thinner is better takes time, but it’s worth it. I love you. Using the Illuminiser from @ecotan It gives my skin the best glow! Made with clean ingredients, vegan, and won’t break you out! @ecobysonya ✨ad

“You let yourself go.” An ex once said this to me. I was too ashamed to tell anyone because, at the time, I believed it. I felt like I had failed him by gaining weight, and failed myself for not losing it. I convinced myself that my value as a partner was tied to the size of my body. For years, I was terrified to date again, afraid that if my body changed, I’d be left. That fear followed me into my current relationship when my favourite jeans no longer fit. My ex’s words echoed in my mind: “I let myself go. He’s going to leave me.” That night, Liam found me crying in the bathroom. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I feel like I let you down, for gaining weight,” I whispered. But to my surprise, he just looked at me and said: “You didn’t let yourself go. You let yourself be, and I love that.” And he was right. I let myself eat without guilt, move in ways that brought me joy, dress comfortably, and ordered what I truly wanted from the menu without fearing calories. I let my body be. And Liam saw that as me finally enjoying life, not as a failure and loved me even more for it. Because the right person loves you for you—not for your body. Healthy love doesn’t change when your body does. Every body is worthy of love. So please, don’t shrink yourself to please someone else. You are worthy of love at any size. You always have been.

Many of us didn’t grow up seeing what a safe, loving relationship looked like or felt like. We weren’t taught what healthy love truly is. We were told that arguing or bickering meant a relationship wasn’t good, but I disagree. Even in the safest, healthiest love, challenges will come up. Liam and I have been together for nearly six years, and while we have a safe love we’ve also had our fair share of communication breakdowns, conflict, and challenges. But we’ve learned to express when something upsets us, respect each other’s feelings, take accountability, acknowledge our needs, and work together to restore our connection. Try not to compare your relationship to the ones you see on social media because no relationship is perfect, but having a safe, healthy love means feeling secure, comfortable to be yourself, supported, respected, and truly heard. It means being loved for who you are, not in spite of it. Idea inspired by the wonderful @_nelly_london

I get it, wanting to tan from the sun is tempting, but it’s simply not worth putting your health on the line when you can achieve the same sun-kissed result with fake tan. When I want to look tanned i like to use the natural body tanning water from @ecotan and the Face Tan Water. They are my go-to for a safe, natural looking, healthy glow.  The body tan water Hempitan is full of natural and certified ingredients, doesn’t stain clothes or sheets and it provides a long lasting streak free colour that you’ll achieve from sun tanning but without the risk of harmful uv rays.  The Face Tan Water helps to clear your skin while providing you a healthy glow, covers redness and uneven skin tone and is safe from harmful chemicals.  I have loved Eco Tan for the longest time and think it’s so important that there are products out there that can help you achieve glowy, sun kissed skin without the risk of uv rays. ad

I’ve wanted to talk about my PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) diagnosis for a while now. For so long, I couldn’t find the right words to describe what it feels like to live through two challenging weeks each month. But putting my thoughts into a poem has helped me express it in a way I couldn’t before. If you’re unfamiliar with PMDD, it’s a severe form of PMS that’s often underdiagnosed, despite being a common condition. Living with it feels like walking through a fog that only clears for two weeks of every month. In those fleeting moments of clarity, I remember who I am, but the rest of the time, I feel lost in the haze. If you’re struggling with PMDD, I want you to know this, you’re not alone. I see you, and together, we’ll find our way through the fog. I’m here for you, and I love you.

I have something to confess to you that I’ve been nervous to share… This is why you shouldn’t believe everything you see on social media 😎 Bodies are often edited, posed or altered to appear a certain way, making it harder than ever to tell what is real and what is fake online today. There are apps now that can edit your body in real time, smooth your skin, shrink your waist, and enlarge your lips. It’s bizarre and scary to think that the content we see online often doesn’t represent real bodies or real life. Be mindful of what you consume online and remember that the people you are comparing yourself to may not even look like themselves in real life. Your unedited body and face is beautiful and you don’t need to change a single thing about yourself. Your softness, stretched skin, freckles, hip-dips, texture and aging spots are what makes you, you and that is something to embrace and celebrate. Set from @wearhuha