I know I can count on you guys to reassure me that I am not the only plus size woman that has a love/ hate relationship with her arms…like go ahead…tell me!
When I was at Curvy Con a couple of weeks ago, I heard Chanté of Everything Curvy & Chic say that she was in love with her arms. Cece Olisa was like “Really? That is the first time I’ve heard a plus size woman say that.” and she wasn’t lying.
Though I used to experience more discomfort than love of my arms, I completely understand why Chanté said what she did. I have seen many plus size women talk about how much they hate their arms, and how they will not wear sleeveless shirts because of being uncomfortable with showing their arms.
Top | Simply Be
Jeans | Simply Be similar here
Shoes | Just Fab (similar)
Earrings | Charlotte Russe (similar)
More Tops and Denim from Simply Be
I definitely used to be one of those women, but I happened to experience a different situation that helped me get over the fear of showing and embracing the size of my arms.
From the time I turned 8 to my last year in high school, I was a cheerleader. Not only was I a cheerleader, but I happened to be the biggest cheerleader on every team I was apart of. I’m sure you guys understand how uncomfortable and self conscious I was all the time!
Well all of that changed sometime during my Junior year in high school. Being a plus size cheerleader helped me develop thick skin, and a non tolerant attitude about what I allowed to effect me. I would no longer allow myself to be overly critical about the size of my arms or my size in general. I was an excellent cheerleader and a caring person…the size of my arms had nothing to do with that.
Seeing as cheerleaders have their arms out pretty much every day of the week, I had no choice but to be comfortable with my body. Before I made the choice to love myself, any time I wanted to change something about myself it would be because of what other people would say or think. But living without fear allows me to dress the way I want. I’m not afraid to wear this beautiful multi stripped cami top from Simply Be and pair them with these patch jeans also from Simply Be. My arms won’t stop me, because I am in control of my emotions.
Foundation | Sephora Collection ; Eye Lashes | Maybelline & Urban Decay ; Lips | Sephora Collection & Revlon ; Setting Powder | Cover FX ; Setting Spray | Urban Decay
I am so glad I made that change back then. Something in me just snapped, and I was tired of being uncomfortable and worried about what other people had to say about me. So I decided to give my energy to more pressing things, my happiness!
Even as I began to gain more weight the older I got, I still did not allow myself to be self conscious about my arms. I just decided to make a choice to be mentally happy, than going crazy over what others would think about my arms. I chose to sport beautiful tops like this…big arms and all.
Tell me some stories where you had a hard time being comfortable showing off your arms…
*This post was sponsored by Simply Be. All opinions are my own & remain genuine
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I used to wear my arms out unapologetically until my early 20’s. Me, my godsister, and her mom were in Miami and we posed for her mom to take a picture of us and she commented on how big my arm looked, and said it looked like I had edema in my arms. It only took a couple more adjacent comments for me to internalize that my arms were too big, like when a guy asked me if I lifted weights because my arms were so big. I want to not be obsessed with concealing my big arms, but I’m… Read more »