Helen

‘The definition of health varies from person to person but for me, this has changed dramatically over the last few years. I’ve always had very low confidence but throughout secondary school this became worse and I began comparing myself to others and having very negative thoughts about the way I look, my body image as well as doubting my intelligence.

When I was 15/16 I decided losing weight would make me feel better about myself. What started off healthily rapidly spiralled out of control due to other factors going on in my life triggering an unhealthy relationship between food and exercise and I ended up severely underweight with less confidence than I had to start with. This period of time had a detrimental impact on my health however it taught me a lot about myself and what’s important in life.

Health to me now is embracing, accepting and loving who I am as an individual. Surrounding myself with people who bring out the best in me. Knowing I don’t need acceptance from anybody to be worthy of loving myself. Knowing that it’s not selfish to take time to do things by yourself, for yourself, to become a better version of yourself.’