Tough Love: A Victim of Body Shaming

Body Shaming has been one of the top 5 topics on my social media feeds for quite some time now, and to be honest I really haven't paid much attention to it. It's one of those things that I feel every person faces at some point in their lives. 
People pick on each other for the way that they look, the way that they dress, the pimples on their face, the size of their breasts, the size of their feet, their weight, their pant size, how they eat, how much make-up they wear, etc, etc, etc. I tend to try to believe that most of the time it is not meant to harm the other person, but just because it's not meant to hurt, doesn't mean that it's harmless. 
For me, the worst of it comes from my family. I only go home about once a year- I just went for my cousin's wedding. When I was younger I would spend the weeks before trying to decide what my family was going to say about my weight and my current eating habits. It used to make me feel terrible about myself every time. They so don't mean it in a harmful way, they just notice that I look different from my last visit. I have always been small for my dad's side of the family a very man-heavy side of the family with a lot of Italian-blood and dinners fit for kings just about everyday of the week. I have always been large for my mom's side of the family- my grandmother is not even 5 foot and my mom barely stood at 5'6. I am 5'10 and typically a fit 155 lb. 
The ridicule has taken many forms over the years- And I've learned to turn on the sass in response.

• "Where's the meat on your bones?"- The dog ate it.
• "That's the most I've seen you eat all week" - Thank you, food police, I'll make sure I save my next meal for when you are watching.
• "Aren't you full yet?" - Nope, I'm broke and this is a free meal.
• "Your arms are very muscular" - yes they are, I just carried your washer up the stairs for you, by myself, you're welcome.
• "Your thighs are a little thick, don't you think?"- yup and very strong.
• " Why aren't you hungry?"- because you have had food in front of me continuously for the last 12 hours, my stomach needs a break.
• "I think you are running too many miles" - what qualifies as too many miles?
• "Your hair looks dirty, it's so dark" - want to pay for my next salon appointment?
• "You're too thin/thick"- Actually, I'm healthy and strong, but thanks for noticing.
• "That's going to make you fat" - I ran 10 miles this morning, I think my body can handle a cookie.

Honestly, we put so much pressure on ourselves to look a certain way it is difficult to find a comfortable place when you are experiencing feedback about such a personal thing from all of the people around you. I've learned that it truly doesn't matter what they say. As long as I am getting the chance to run, lift, do yoga, rock climb, or paddle board I am normally pretty content with my appearance and as long as I'm happy, that's all that matters!