Tess Holliday

Self-love is for everyone and we all need it!

In the beginning, I used to say, 'I'm healthy, my cholesterol's fine, I don't have high blood pressure, I don't have diabetes.' By telling people that you see a doctor, and telling people that you're healthy, it's perpetuating the abuse against bigger bodies and the mindset that we owe it to people to be healthy.

Learning to love yourself is not going to happen overnight - the first step is trying to be kinder and more patient with yourself, and I understand that it takes time.

If I have the opportunity, a massage or facial is a great way to take a little 'me time.'

I'd like to be the person who changes things or at least opens doors for others.

It's really hard to find boots for plus-size women because most of us have larger calves - not all of us, but most of us - so it's hard to find boots.

I've been asked a lot lately if I had a hard time getting pregnant. I've been asked how I conceived. In the same way, everyone else does!

I think it frustrates me that so many people have bought into the idea of what we should look like instead of actually giving a crap about everyone around us.

I was bullied from fifth grade on. They started making fun of me because my mom was in a wheelchair, then they started making fun of me because I was poor and then it evolved to my size.

I can never celebrate success in my career without it being picked apart because of my size or 'my health.'

I have no friends from high school. That was probably the reason I ended up dropping out, and I dealt with that by eating.

My only challenges for winter are jackets because I have big arms.