It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the blogosphere. I love that it’s a way for me to express myself and connect with other people. Whether you’re in need of a recipe, a crafty project, some sound advice or outfit inspiration, you can find it in the blog world. Since I am a “wannabe fashionista” one of my favorite niches is fashion bloggers.

Delving deep into the world o’ blogs can be all-consuming at times. You can easily get wrapped up in the thousands of amazing, beautiful blogs out there and the seemingly perfect lives of those behind them. If you’re into reading fashion blogs as much as I am, then you may have caught onto a little trend I’ve noticed. There are a lot of young, beautiful, blond, thin women out there. They put together fabulous outfits, throw on their Michael Kors watches and capture our fashionable imaginations through their blogs. Don’t get me wrong, I love them. Their style is enviable and their entrepreneurial spirit inspires me.

BUT….it can be difficult to be bombarded with one narrow view of style and beauty (don’t even get me started on the media in general). I spend a good amount of time on here talking about, and promoting fitness, working out, and being healthy. I want to make it clear that I am in no way equating any of that with being, or becoming, “skinny” (I touched on this in Weight, It’s Just a Number). First and foremost, I work out to be fit and strong. I will never be a size 2 or probably even a size 6, it’s just not the way I am built (and I don’t care to live my life on 1,000 calories a day).

Yes, I struggle with my own body self-image and I’ll be honest, sometimes the blogosphere Does. Not. Help.  Comparison can be an ugly thing and I’ve been beating myself up lately. That is until I stumbled across two blogs that, without sounding too dramatic, have changed why whole perspective. Healthy is the New Skinny, and Style Has No Size, put everything I feel about society’s views on health, beauty, and fashion into words (and pictures). I’ve never in my life been shown so many positive, healthy images of women. My goodness is it refreshing.

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Pro surfer, and Healthy is the New Skinny Ambassador, Bo Stanley. Despite being sponsored by Billabong, the company would not put her on their website, or in their catalog, because she does not wear the sample size bikinis! Thanks to a petition (signed by people who shared my “WTF?” response to hearing that), she now has a photo gallery on Billabong’s website.

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No matter how you feel about her brother, and his now infamous marriage, you have to agree that Kaela Humphries is beautiful. She just landed a modeling contract with Ford. I love how she says she has “always been a size 12 with a six-pack.” Healthy and beautiful!

Take a minute to check out Healthy is the New Skinny and Style Has No Size. They have a lot of interesting information on the effect Photoshopping has on our perception of women and the media’s influence on our own self-worth. Not to mention all the pictures of gorgeous women that make you realize just how narrow society’s view of beauty really is.

Life’s short. Be healthy! Be Beautiful! Be YOU (and be ok with it)!

P.S. Thank you to Running in Mommyland and  Tyler and Lisa Brown’s Flow  for also helping inspire this post!