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Don’t wait to start loving yourself. Love yourself before, during, and after you make changes.

As a child and teenager, Tunde Oyeneyin was overweight. In the 1970s, her father won a lottery for a diversity visa, and the Oyeneyin family emigrated from Nigeria to Texas. Oyeneyin’s mother encouraged her and her three brothers to eat, regarding it as a healthy habit. But when Oyeneyin couldn’t fit into a bridesmaid dress at age 14, she felt ashamed. Children quickly learn they need to fit in, and girls especially begin to hate their bodies if they fail to conform to conventional standards of beauty. In high school, self-conscious about her size, Oyeneyin diminished her personality to make herself small and avoid drawing attention to herself. She was not living as her authentic self.

When her mother realized how upset Oyeneyin was about being different, she encouraged her to make a change. Oyeneyin eventually found fitness and lost 70lbs. She ultimately realized that no external factor – no scale, no mirror nor
other people's opinions – could change how she perceived herself. She shares the importance of learning to love yourself before, during and after you reach...