Fair play to her!
In a world where body shaming is still very real, it’s so refreshing to read something like this.
Irish blogger (and all round BABE) Ashley Kehoe took to Instagram on Friday to share a ‘before and after’ picture.
No, it’s not what you think!
The blonde shared two images, one of her a few years back and one more recent.
In the more recent image, Ashley has clearly gained a bit of weight, and look absolutely STUN.
More importantly, Ashley shared a truly inspiring message alongside the pictures.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BltMo2OlFoB/?taken-by=ashleykehoe09
“So here’s a little before and after with a twist. In my before picture I’m thinner than my after. More often than not it’s the other way around. Firstly, I would like to stress that both body shapes and sizes are still beautiful as I feel these type of posts can often be misconstrued.”
The fashion blogger explained her reasoning for the post, and why she chose to gain some weight:
“Around two years ago I dropped down to my lightest weight due to a number of different factors going on in my life at that time. Stress being one of them. Now I’ve put back on the weight that I lost and I’m a healthy size 8-10 again.”
“I think it’s important to know that it’s okay to fluctuate and it’s more important to not be so hard on yourself when you do. This is my intention for this post.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlOJi96l8UK/?taken-by=ashleykehoe09
Ashley explained that it can be easy to get sucked in to an idea that a certain size is “perfection” but that is NOT the case.
“Being a young girl, immersed in the social media world I sometimes struggle to deal with even a little weight gain as I’m sure do so many other girls. I have days when I look in the mirror and think ‘Oh my god I’ve really let myself go!'”
“I’ll look back through old photos like this and mentally punish myself for not maintaining the same tiny size even though I see that I do look healthier now. Other days I think ‘Yes, girl!! You have a beautiful womanly figure… own it!!’ And I absolutely do. It’s a constant battle that I struggle with.’
A battle that we’re all too familiar with, I’m sure.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Blz3l99lhTt/?taken-by=ashleykehoe09
Ashley also said that even when she reached her goal weight, it wasn’t enough.
“I was still really self conscious wearing a bikini in public and thought I could be smaller, thinner, leaner. Unfortunately, it’s become almost normal to compare yourself to unrealistic goals and I hate that I let myself succumb to the pressure.”
She rounded off her inspirational post with a simple message to her fans: I’m just simply trying to highlight that it’s completely fine to put on weight and embrace the change in doing so. I’m trying to find a happy medium in between so that ultimately I’m taking care of my mind and body.”
Here, here Ashley! You’re a rockstar.
