When I look at my body in this photo, I’m simply so proud of it. I see scars, stretch marks, and cellulite that I used to fight so hard to hide, and now they represent just how powerful my body has been through the past 31 years.
My body has carried me through years of dieting and restricting, binging and purging, debilitating back pain, back surgeries, back and forth weight gain to weight loss and such a significant internal transformation that my body is still getting used to. It’s also been through years of being told it was too big, not enough, embarrassing, unattractive, not small enough, not curvy enough, you know the rest. But through all of it, my body never gave up on me.
I wanted to be in
@si_swimsuit for years, but I truly believe timing is everything because this moment means so much more to me now than it would have before. For so long, I disconnected myself from my body and started seeing myself through other people’s perceptions instead of as a whole person. Now, I finally can put the two together and just feel proud.
No matter how my body continues to change over time or what size I am, I’ve grown so much respect for it for carrying me through and to me this photo represents that.
