Who’s never felt bad about their body? It can feel impossible to develop confidence when you’re skinny. Social media and advertisements show the modern-day “perfect body” – usually curvaceous and totally toned, with not a flaw in sight.
Want to know how to be confident being skinny? Here are a few strategies:
- Let health be your goal.
- Eat well.
- Be the person you want to be.
- Emphasize what you like about yourself, and don’t bother worrying about people’s opinions.
If you’re a slim person looking to gain confidence in your body, read on for more explanation on these tips for conquering self-doubt and reclaiming ownership of your self-image.
You’ve got a great journey ahead.
Let Health Be Your Goal
If you feel self-conscious about your body size, it’s time to change your perspective.
We’ll take this step by step so that this task that feels nearly impossible becomes much easier. On the journey to gain weight and gain confidence, your focus should be on health instead of a quick-fix weight gain method. We’ve all seen corny advertisements for diet and health products that just don’t work.
Fad diets have been proven time and time again to be unhealthy, yet advertisers want you to think that they’ve got the miracle cure for your lack of confidence.

Spoiler alert: they don’t.
Instead of being worried about whether or not you look too skinny or underweight and making a certain body image into your goal, make a healthy lifestyle your goal. If you focus too much on what you look like, you’re bound to get caught up in superficial anxieties.
When it comes to fitness as a skinny person, you need to find the right balance between working out too much and not being active enough.
A great alternative to cardiovascular work (which may cause more weight loss) is weightlifting. The American Academy of Family Physicians suggests that strength training can be beneficial for underweight people because building muscle helps you gain weight in a way that’s healthy.
Check out this copy of Weight Training for Women to give yourself a head start.
Eat Well
Eating well can increase your confidence levels when you’re skinny because you’ll feel better about the dietary choices you’re making. Here are a few tips on how to improve your eating habits:
Many people who are underweight become tempted to just binge and overeat to try to gain weight, but that’s not the right way to try to achieve productive results. If you eat poor-quality
food, you will likely suffer from detrimental health issues. Poor nutrition’s been proven to increase the risk of severe illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Instead of obsessing over calories and trying to eat in the hope of gaining weight, focus on eating nutritious foods that are full of vitamins and minerals. For example, avocados are full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which help to promote health in the nervous system and brain.
Other foods that are nutrient-dense and full of healthful fats are walnuts, flax seeds, and various varieties of wild-caught fish. When you eat good food, your body will function more effectively, and you’ll feel far more confident in your own skin.

The balance you need to strike here is between following a strict dietary routine and allowing yourself some indulgences. It’s important that you work with a nutritional professional to determine the best diet for your needs, including your gender, height, age, and health conditions.
Some people thrive on more fat-based diets, while others function better with more protein or carbs.
Reach out to your local nutritionist and see what advice and treatment they can offer you.
Be the Person You Want to Be
Once you’ve developed a focus on your internal workings, now it’s time to focus on your outer body.
The way you see yourself directly correlates to your mental health – people with lower self-esteem tend to suffer from depression, anxiety, and mood disorders, and vice versa. The opposite is also true – people who have a better sense of self-esteem are generally more optimistic and happy people.
For us to lead happy lives and to be confident no matter what we look like, it’s important that we develop good self-esteem.
One of the best ways to develop a better sense of self-esteem is to learn to love yourself exactly as you are. A great place to start in this process is to identify one emotional trait that you love about yourself.

Really think about it – are you a patient person and maybe a good listener? Maybe you’re the creative type, and you have a knack for inspiration. Get inventive here because I can assure you that there is something loveable about you.
Take this feeling and run with it. What else do you like about yourself – this time, make it a physical feature. Perhaps you have rich mocha-brown eyes or bright blonde hair. You may have a beautiful heart-shaped face or a great set of eyebrows.
Again, be inventive here: your best trait may not just be generically beautiful but also something athletic like strong legs or powerful biceps.
Once you’ve identified this feature, create an outfit that highlights it. If you have nice eyes, try putting your hair up to show them off. A short-sleeved blouse with decorative sleeves is perfect for showing off your toned biceps, or try to wear something to show off those long luscious legs.
Ignore What Other People Think
Look at you – all dressed up in an outfit that highlights your best features. Don’t get worked up about feeling like you’re too slim or slender. Just focus on the good things you’re working with. Along your journey toward confidence, you’re bound to find people that are going to judge you, and that’s completely normal. Though it’s unfortunate, people who feel bad about themselves are more likely to bully other people about their own appearances.
In a dissertation from Bowling Green State University, bullying behaviors in children were directly proportionate to their self-esteem. The more confident a student felt, the less likely they were to bully someone else. Although this study was conducted in child subjects, the same sort of behaviors can commonly be seen in adults.
If you find that other people are addressing your weight negatively, don’t give their opinion any attention because it’s likely that that person is also experiencing a lack of confidence about their body.

The best way to stay confident when other people are speaking poorly of you is to simply remember that they are likely experiencing issues with their own self-confidence, as well. We all struggle with different issues, and that person is probably just anxious or self-conscious. You don’t have to get upset about someone not liking how you look or how you act.
It’s better to brush negative opinions off and keep doing what you’re doing. In the long run, this will make you a stronger person and will inspire other people to become more confident, too.
Conclusion
Being skinny and learning to be confident isn’t easy. You’re bound to come across challenges that feel almost impossible to conquer, but you have the strength to make it happen.
Instead of blindly trying to gain weight, make nutrition and health the focus of your journey. Cook nutritious meals for yourself full of vitamins and minerals, and find ways to exercise that build muscle instead of losing weight.
Most importantly, you’ve got to treat yourself kindly.

It’s crucial to act and present yourself in ways that make you feel good. Confidence can be hard to develop, but with these four simple tips, you’re well on your way to success.
Sources
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: “Choose Healthy Fats”
- American Academy of Family Physicians: “Healthy Ways to Gain Weight If You’re Underweight”
- Government of South Australia: “The Risks of Poor Nutrition”
- National Alliance on Mental Health: “Why Self-Esteem Is Important for Mental Health”
- American Psychological Association: “Can One Exist Without the Other?”
- Amazon: Floerns Women’s Short Sleeve Lace Keyhole Summer Chiffon Blouse Top
- Amazon: FONYVE Silk Feeling Scarf Medium Square
- Bowling Green State University: “The Relationship Between Student Bullying Behaviors and Self-Esteem”
- Cleveland Clinic: “Fad Diets”
- Amazon: Weight Training for Women: Exercises and Workout Programs for Building Strength with Free Weights