May 13th - 19th is #MentalHealthAwareness week and this year, the theme is body image. We have a series of guest posts from some of our Brastop Babes every day this week, and for today's post we say hello to Ana:

My name is Ana, I always struggle to define myself (probably due to some of my anxieties) but I’m a mum of 3, part time blogger part time retail manager and full time worrier. I try to empower and inspire other women, as other women empower and inspire me.

I fell into blogging by accident when my lovely friend Linz (aka @helloitslinzi) asked me to do some guest posts about having a small band but large cup, being a 28H/30GG.

I spent a long time struggling with how much my body changed.

I spent a long time struggling with how much my body changed after I had my youngest 2 kids, and added to that I'm almost 40 and I know that unless I put in some serious hours at the gym my body won't be as naturally toned as it once was, plus my skin isn't going to get less wrinkly unless I pay a visit to a beauty clinic. I didn’t much like what I saw and constantly compared myself to other women on social media. I didn’t bother buying myself nice clothes or lingerie because I guess I didn’t think my body deserved nice things.

Ana wears Curvy Kate Vixen in Black Ana wears Curvy Kate Vixen


Beautiful lingerie makes me look at myself differently.

Then I started following other kinds of influencers. Women who, like me, had stretch marks and flabby bits. They were beautiful, and they embraced their bodies. @helloitslinzi, @thelingerieprincess @lauren_dungey and @flanceyy are all women who inspire me to keep loving myself. I made an effort to buy myself some pretty, well-fitting underwear and I felt instantly better when I looked in the mirror.

Beautiful lingerie makes me look at myself differently. it makes me look past the bits I don't particularly like and appreciate the bits that I do. it makes me feel confident, and empowered. I can look in the mirror and love my body again, even if it doesn't look like it used to. I still have a lot of days where I'm really self-critical but they're much fewer between than they used to be.

I choose my lingerie for ME, and I think that’s an important thing for anyone struggling with their body image. It’s not about what other people look like or what you think they think of you. How you feel about yourself is what matters.

You are worthy of self-love, no matter what.

Ana x

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