Women Celebrating Their Bodies After Gaining Weight
We live in a society where women and men are made to feel like gaining weight can only ever be a bad thing. If you gain weight, for any reason, you've let yourself go or you must be unhappy with yourself—but that's not always the case.
As you get older, it's natural for your body to change, and part of that change might be weight gain. You can't look like your 19-year-old self forever, and these women are not only acknowledging that, but celebrating it.
Kicking It Off With Body Positivity
After her thread went viral, Tayler said that she kicked off the photo challenge because she supports "all things concerning body image," and at the end of the day, "we have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
A Healthy Reminder
There's a stigma around weight gain, with people often believing that anyone who is "overweight" must be unhealthy, but that's not the case. Everyone's body is different, and what's healthy for their body could be different than what you think.
Baby Weight Isn't A Bad Thing
When asked by one follower how she pulled off her weight gain, Mina replied by saying "girl, my son did this." So if anyone is looking to get thick, consider having a baby.
Repeat After Me: The Number Means Nothing
As long as you are happy with the way you see yourself, and you're comfortable in the body you're in, it doesn't matter what anyone else says or what a bathroom scale says.
Attribute It To Age
Your body changes as you age, no matter how much you try to stop it. It's normal to gain weight as you get older, because your body can't look like a teenager's forever.
Your Healthy Weight Is Different Than Mine
The more we talk about weight as a society, the more we're going to realize that there is no single ideal weight. A woman who weighs 97 pounds can be completely healthy, and she can still be healthy at 140.
Smile For The Camera
Some people, when they gain weight, feel like they should be shying away from the camera because they're not happy with how they look, but they should be taking a page out of this woman's book.
Change Isn't A Bad Thing
Age is just a number, and so is your weight. Looking back at photos from when you were younger might make you feel discouraged or sad you no longer have the body you did, or you can acknowledge that you look good now too!
It's All About The Journey
If you're someone who has gained weight over the years, it's okay to say that you didn't plan to or that you haven't been happy about it the whole time. What matters now is that you're trying your best to appreciate where you're at.
40 Pounds Of Weight & Confidence Gained
There is no way to tell from a number how healthy someone is. If you were to tell someone you've gained 40 pounds, they're going to see that as a negative, but what if it's 40 pounds of muscle?
Scales Don't Matter
You were happy with your body in the first picture, and you're happy with your body in the second picture. The amount of weight you've gained between those two doesn't matter.
The Number Doesn't Matter
Your body is going to change when you have a baby. There's literally no way for you to prevent it, so why not embrace the changes and focus on the fact that your body was able to create another human being?
Happy Weight, Happy Life
People sometimes assume that if you've gained weight, it's because you've gone through a breakup or dealt with some sort of trauma that led you down a dark spiral, but that's not true. You can gain weight because you're happy and comfortable too.
Think Of The Fashion Choices
One great thing about gaining weight is getting to try all the clothes that you felt like you couldn't rock before. Now you've got all these curves to fill out dresses and jeans, so it's time to embrace them.
It's Normal To Have Moments Of Insecurity
Body positivity and confidence isn't about pretending that you're 100% happy with your body for every second of every day. Some days, you're going to be thrilled about the gains, other days you might not be. Tomorrow is a new day.
Up In The Gym Just Workin On My Fitness
If your weight gain was intentional, why wouldn't you want to show it off? You've spent hours, weeks, months, working on yourself and working on building the booty, so take as many mirror pics as you want!
Aging With Grace
You expect to look at photos of yourself from 10 years ago and think about how young you looked or how ridiculous your fashion choices were, so why wouldn't you expect your actual body to look a little different too?
You Do You
Self-love is about just that: loving yourself. Nobody else's opinion matters, all that matters is how you feel about yourself—and you should feel pretty damn good about yourself, looking like that.
An Important Reminder
The way that we feel about our bodies is affected by the images we see on a daily basis, which is why threads like this one are important for all of us to appreciate.
There's A Difference
Despite the overall positive feedback to her thread, Tay still received comments from the naysayers who didn't understand how she could encourage people to live an "unhealthy" lifestyle, but she (and every other woman who posted pics) knows better.
