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Women Are Sharing Empowering Photos Of Themselves After Gaining Weight

It's time that we change the narrative around "before-and-after" body photos.

If you pop into that hashtag on Instagram, it's full of pictures of extreme weight loss. And for many people, that's great! But sometimes, you need to see the opposite. This is especially true for those who have suffered from eating disorders, and need to see that it's okay to really take care of and nourish your body.

These influencers and celebrities are here to validate and uplift that idea.

Claire Guentz is a fitness instructor who is proud of her weight.

Society teaches us to strive for the lowest number possible.

"It's also a little scary how something can be so engrained in us (a lower number on the scale) and us embody that without even knowing it."

Emma Louise built a lot of muscle.

"I weigh more now, eat more now, and socialise more now which in turn has made me more confident/happy/healthy in my body - all whilst still being able to achieve “goals” I've set myself."

The key to happiness is feeling good!

Liza Golden is too busy thriving to worry about her weight.

The woman on the left was booking her dream fashion jobs, but was so underfed that she fainted. She began taking care of her body, and now she's living the life. And she's a mom!

Julia Baesser with from skinny to strong.

She cares deeply about being open about eating disorders.

"You're not alone with your illness and it doesn't show weakness admitting you have a problem and asking for help."

Victoria Niamh's body is an instrument, not an ornament.

"I lost my self first to anorexia in pursuit of having a body that would land me jobs in the dance world after being told ‘your body is your CV’, and then again to bikini competing to achieve a body so ‘perfect’ for 6 strangers to pick apart and judge me, before rewarding me with a trophy for what was 100% a glorified eating disorder.⁣"

No longer.

La'Tecia Thomas put on weight to take pressure off of herself.

She's the right size for her body, and she's happy that way. Now, she's a big-time model and influencer, and she's booked constantly. And best of all? She loves her body.

Kenzie Forbes decided to pack on muscle to nourish her body.

"Looking back I laugh, I will never understand how I ever convinced myself that being "thin" would bring happiness and help me feel like I would be accepted."

Allison Kimmey and her husband are not reading the comments section, thank you very much.

I mean, you can leave your opinion if you want, but they're too busy being happy to care.

"Now the only thing I measure is the size of my smile instead of the size of my body."

Dana Patterson's babe level is over 9000.

"Exercise is a reward instead of a punishment now. I hike, surf, bike, and play volleyball because I LOVE those activities.i don't stress about my weight or measurements, I work to be the healthiest version of myself."

Tabria Majors feels healthy af.

"I was 170 on the left, 220 now, and can’t believe how much I hated the way I looked 10 years ago. Now I’m more in love with my body than I’ve ever been!"

Jovana is proud of her "backwards" transformation tuesday.

"As I always say, we must love our bodies in all states, at all times! Throughout this journey you will ride highs and lows, but you will never fail and will always come on top of you keep working on YOU."

Marciel Howard lost a ton of weight to enter Miss South Africa.

And doing so made her sick.

"On this specific day of the picture, I got home, freezing after the shoot, and I had a baby apple for dinner."

She realized living like that was unsustainable, so she gave it up!

Megan Jayne Crabbe is so much happier with more weight on her body.

She suffered from an eating disorder that nearly took her life. Despite appearing "healthy" (or what we've been taught to associate with "healthy"), she was deathly ill. Now, she's actually healthy — and happy!