I'm no stunning gem and I'm not stick thing, and whenever I see a thin beautiful girl I just get incredibly jealous and depressed. Every morning when I wake up I think about not eating for a day or more but I never end up doing it. I eat pretty healthy now and I've lost about 77 pounds in the last two years and I now weigh 133 pounds. However, I still hate my body and I can never allow myself to believe that I'm thin enough. I could go on forever about all of my insecurities, but I'm just hoping I can get some advice on how to raise myself esteem and see myself in a better light. I can never seem to get into the right mindset. I know that I need to do something but I have no idea what and so I haven't done anything at all. Any advice at all would be lovely, I'm feeling really vulnerable here.

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Being thin isn't always a good thing, my ex-girlfriend was so skinny her hips would stab me when I hugged her. I was at 138 pounds (I'm a 5'9'' guy) and she told me I still had to lose weight. That's just ridiculous (back up to 165ish now, yay). The media never helps, with their super bone skinny models and whatnot. I always use Marilyn Monroe as an example, she wasn't "skinny"; and a bunch of people think she's beautiful.

I'm really bad with words, I wish I could be of more help :( I'll just let Marilyn speak for me:

You're beautiful just the way you are, and don't let anyone (including yourself) tell you otherwise!

Thank you I often forget that it's society that sets these unrealistic standards. After I lost weight a lot of the more popular kids at my school didn't even recognize me. They thought I was a completely different person, but my face didn't change it was just a bit slimmer. It shows how today everyone focuses on bodies more so than faces and its awful, especially for those of us that aren't 100 pounds. Thanks for the Marilyn quote as well, and I'm so glad that you're happy with your weight now! That's awesome. I wish my boyfriend would gain a little weight but he's incredibly skinny and he still says that he's fat. I guess it is kind of a reminder to me though that other people probably see me differently than I see myself aswell. Thanks again for your reply it really cheered me up tonight :)

I'm sure you're stunning!

This is Tess Munster (a second photo of her body!), you might have heard of her. She's completely different from the models you are constantly bombarded with and she has many, many adoring fans. She runs the group "eff your beauty standards" (facebook and instagram, if you have either), and the people on there are always picking one another up and supporting people for their choices.

Just remember: you are beautiful. You do not need to be 100 pounds to be happy. In fact, I have a feeling that if you got to that point, you'd never be happy. You'd always want to lose more and more until you're completely controlled by the need to lose weight. Be careful of that!

A suggestion: stop weighing yourself and if you feel like you want to lose weight, then do it without the aid of the scales. You will soon realise that you'll be much happier in your own skin that way because you won't be consumed by a number or a goal weight or whatever. Also, ditch the calories! It's not rocket science what is good food with less calories, and "bad" food with more calories. As you've lost a lot of weight already from what I can tell, you will know which to stick to more. But if you really want french fries... Have the french fries.

I hope that helps!