Favorite Body Positive Influencers
I will never be able to sustain a skinny lifestyle.
Back during my sophomore year, I lost a lot of weight (about 40-50 pounds) and while I looked amazing, I didn’t really feel amazing. It was the first time in my life when I had suicidal thoughts and I was losing weight and going to the gym to fill a void. My best friend had transferred from Pitt and I just felt lonely. Oh, I also got rejected from the Disney College Program that year so it was rough. I would go to the gym six days a week for at least an hour but sometimes two. And the thing was, just walking to the gym was exercise in itself. My apartment was a mile away from the gym and that mile included a very large hill (#CardiacHill #H2P). I wouldn’t eat after 7pm and I wouldn’t eat more than about 1200 calories a day (the minimum required for a women and way less than I should have had with all the physical activity). Even if it was 7pm and all I’d eaten was a sandwich and apple, that was it. No more food.
It’s not healthy to restrict that much and I am not a model or actress and I don’t have to conform to Hollywood’s beauty standards. What I find neat is that there truly is a shift in body positivity and what is seen as beautiful. Tall lanky models such as the Hadid sisters and Kendall Jenner are just as beautiful (to me and some others) as Ashley Graham and Kate Upton.
I follow some badass body positive people on Instagram and if you aren’t genetically predispositioned to be thin and if you like to drinks IPAs, then I think you should follow them, too!
Ashley Graham
Instagram: @theashleygraham
If you haven’t heard of Ashley Graham, you clearly only know about straight-size models. Ashley Graham has been making waves in fashion for years now. In 2016, she was the first plus-size model to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated annual Swimsuit Edition.
Unretouched Vogue Italia photos from Ashley's Instagram.
She has done collaborations with Swimsuits for All, Addition Elle, Dressbarn and Marini Rinaldi. She’s vocal about changing society’s definition of beauty and she once quote Retweeted me and told my that my smile is goals so she is awesome and everyone should support her.
Iskra Lawrence
Instagram: @Iskra
Iskra Lawrence is an Aerie model and body positive activist! She’s only 27, English and a total badass. She doesn’t allow any of her Instagram photos to be retouched because she truly wants to be authentic and to encourage others to love themselves. She was dropped by her first modeling agency at the age of 15 because her hips were too big and then she was told she was too small to be a plus size model.
What might be the coolest thing about Iskra is that she is an ambassador for NEDA, the National Eating Disorders Association. She uses her platform to bring awareness to eating disorders and to help her followers reach out when they need help!
Iskra in an Aerie ad
Sarah Tripp
Instagram: @sassyredlipstick
Sarah Tripp isn’t a model but she is a pretty well-known social media influencer. Her Instagram has 325,000 followers where she documents fashion and travel. I’m clearly not some fashionable person and you mustn’t be either to appreciate her posts. She often shares her opinions about body positivity and her husband is fully supportive of her and the way she looks.
Plus, her posts do make me want to try a little harder with makeup and clothing and there is nothing wrong with that.
A selection of Instagram photos found on www.sassyredlipstick.com
Denise Bidot
Instagram: @denisebidot
Denise Bidot has modeled for Target, Lane Bryant, Swimsuits for All and others. However, she didn't start as a model. She was a makeup artist but while on a shoot one day she was asked by the photographer to model and her life changed then.
I love following her on Instagram because she posts about accepting herself the way she is while also working out and being healthy. Genetically, she will never be a size zero, two, four or six but that is okay. She loves it.
Photo from Denise Bidot's Instagram.
The cool thing about social media is that there are thousands of other body positive people out there helping others love themselves. If there are people you love following, please tell me! No such thing as too much self-love in my Instagram feed.
