Excuse #4: “I feel like I’m out of shape, and I dread going to the gym with all those workout fanatics staring at me.”

The fix: People will judge, but you don’t need to be one of them.

We live in a culture where being fat is seen as being a bad person — lazy, greedy, unhealthy, irresponsible and morally suspect. And we tend to see thinness as being universally good.

Rather than seeing exercise as a way to punish ourselves for not being “perfect,” it can be a way for us to take care of our bodies.

Reclaiming yourself can be one of the most gorgeous acts of self-love and can look like a million different things, from hairstyles to tattoos to body contouring to hormones to surgery and, yes, even weight loss.