Guest Post: Beauty is a state of mind.

Today's guest post comes from Bethan, from The Audacity of Food. As part of my healthy eating series, she's kindly offered to share her story about weight loss and feeling beautiful. Over to you Bethan...

Doves “campaign for real beauty” has been part of their marketing strategy since 2004 and whilst some find it gimmicky, it has attempted to promote an awareness of both inner and outer beauty. You may have seen the recent “Dove Real Beauty Sketches” video, which clearly displays how women negatively imagine and talk about their own appearance.

I have struggled with inner and outer beauty for most of my whole life, like most women of my generation I have grown up in a culture obsessed with youth, beauty and overt sexuality. However, over the past year and a half I have had a ‘transformation’ term of my appearance. Since October 2011 I have lost 5 stone, which represents about a third of my body weight.

Whilst this has had obvious implications in the way I look, I found the biggest change was in how I felt about myself and the shift my attitude towards my body. Food went from being something problematic, a comfort in times of stress, to being a source of nutrition.

I attribute most of my weight loss to my discovery of good food, meaning the kind of food that nourishes both body and mind, and a whole lot of running. Losing the weight didn’t make me happy, or even better looking. The self-confidence I got from being able to successfully look after my own body altered how attractive I felt.

I strongly believe that this confidence is the key to both inner and outer beauty, and the nice thing is that it’s something everyone can achieve, regardless of how much you weigh.

I offer no quick fixes or crash schemes; you should be on no other schedule than your own. If you are trying to lose weight or simply become healthier, it takes time. Stick with it, I promise it is worth it.