Too many people will read this guide and assume The Sunflower is telling you to work out and quit eating fatty foods. But it’s “Better Living,” not “Shed the Weight.” So remember that, because living better is really about being happy with your life, not what your body looks like.

Every day I am sickened by the television ads, mannequins, billboards and magazine covers that display stick-thin models to sell products. It used to be that the sight of a woman in a two-piece bikini was worthy of punishment and scorn, but nowadays, it’s absolutely everywhere: beer, cars, perfume, television sets, even insurance.

The images of women wearing close to nothing have become so “in the norm” that we hardly notice it anymore. When I walk by a poster at the mall of a very attractive couple making out on the beach, wearing teeny tiny swimsuits, I hardly notice – along with millions of other people.

We have grown so accustomed to these sights that the human body barely holds any interest to us anymore. Everything is much less special when we can pull up just about any Web site and see pictures of some skinny girl’s waist advertising a weight loss pill. What happened to romance and exploration?

So it’s no surprise the youth in this country have such terrible self-esteem issues. 

Girls: have no fear. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t matter what you look like, what you eat, how often you workout, if you’ve tried yoga, how many servings of vegetables you’ve had today, none of that. It matters how happy you are.

The size of your jeans does not determine how beautiful you are, I think. I’ve met some truly beautiful people, and never once did I consider their weight. If only the rest of the world were like this.

In the words of Fat Amy: “Even though some of you are pretty thin, you all have fat hearts, and that’s what matters.”