The shittiness of Instagram and social media as a whole was highlighted earlier this week when former Instamodel Essena O’Neill spoke out about how staged her photos were.
One user however has quickly reignited our love of the photo-sharing app with her real, warts-and-all approach. Megan Jayne from Colchester, England is the latest addition to our list of body positive role models.
Megan’s story is all the more inspiring by the fact that she has overcome past demons of anorexia. At 14 she was diagnosed with the eating disorder and her weight plummeted to 70 pounds. In the height of her illness, Megan was hospitalised with a feeding tube.
She writes on her website:
“The first time I remember comparing my body to someone else’s was at 5 years old. I was terrified that my new classmates would see my stomach fold as I sat down, would notice how my thighs filled so much more of that tiny plastic chair than the girl next to me – slim, pretty, a reflection of everything I thought I wasn’t.
You see, within 5 years of being on the planet, it was already ingrained in my mind that fat was the worst thing a person could be, and that beautiful (read as ‘thin’), was the best thing a person could be. It’s unsurprising that over the years my insecurities grew into all consuming demons, and at 14 I was diagnosed with an eating disorder”.
The road to recovery took two years but now Megan embraces and loves every inch of her frame.
She says “however you feel about your body right now, please believe that it can get better. You can learn to love every part of yourself, without changing a thing.
And you deserve that. Take it from someone who never thought they’d find a way out, there is hope, and happiness, and freedom on the other side of self hatred”.
