If you haven't watched The Jungle Book you won't get the reference in the title, and if you haven't watched The Jungle Book you obviously have been living under a rock- it's a classic! Anyway, the title relates very vaguely to the actual content of the chapter but I was having trouble coming up with a name so don't judge me.

Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, however there are some parts of the media that like to only print one, supposedly 'ideal' body shape. We all know how the perfect 'hourglass' figure is idealised by every fashion magazine, and stores around the world use size 6-8 mannequins, when the average dress size in countries such as the UK and US is a size 14-16.

There are all sorts of beautiful body shapes out there, and mine just so happens to be a pear shape (get why the title is only vaguely related?). Growing up, it can be had to embrace your natural body shape when it doesn't match the one that is constantly being thrusted in our faces. And for a long time, I had a real problem with my 'weight'; despite the fact that I was still a dress size 8, I became overly conscious of the fact that my thighs were slightly large (them being a size 10).

Body acceptance is a struggle for anyone, and learning to love the skin we're in can be hard. Especially at a time where self-consciousness is at its highest. My main piece of advice on learning to love yourself is to give yourself time- I'm still not 100% okay with my body.

There are little things that can make you feel more comfortable in your own skin, and I've found that doing a little bit of exercise every day makes me feel much better because I know that my body is healthy. I don't need to look like the women in magazine spreads to know that my body is healthy and happy. At the end of the day, that's what everyone wants- a healthy body. A body that will allow you to live your life for as long as you can.

Another thing that has helped me massively in learning to love myself is to realise that parts of my bodies that I see as 'flaws' could be seen as highly desirable to other people. While my thighs and gluteus maximus may feel too big to me, some women would die to have curves like that. The same thing can be reversed if you're skinnier, heavier etc. Don't be so hard on yourself, the rest of the world wants to look like you.

So rule six of surviving Teenagehood: as long as you can get to fridge to get food you're perfect the way you are.