David

I’m finally getting comfortable with my body. I just turned 34, and Iused to run a lot before I got covid. It messed up my lungs, and I gained weight after that. But you, I still feel good about myself.

I used to be really conservative, like I wouldn’t take my shirt off at the pool because of my body hair. Growing up in Chicago, got teased for my body a lot, and my mom shamed me and my siblings for our bodies — which was funny, because she was the one feeding us stuff like tamales all the time.

But now I’m with someone who appreciates me for me; for them, me being bigger is just more to cuddle. I’ve always been big, and I always will be no matter how much I run or diet. When I was younger, yeah, I wanted to look athletic or whatever, but now I feel like I can just be my weird normal self and be comfortable in my own skin.