Tess Holliday talks post-baby bod: I'm 'still fat and that's OK!'
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Plus size model Tess Holliday is facing her body shamers straight on – again.
Taking to Instagram, she’s proudly admitting to her own insecurities and the struggles she faces daily in her new post-baby bod.
Holliday gave birth to baby Bowie six months ago. She talked about the difficultly she’s been having accepting the inevitable changes to her pre-baby figure, and the “battle” she’s fighting.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Size 22 model Tess Holliday: 'I am fat'
“It’s been 6 months & my stomach is lower, my breasts are a different shape, new stretch marks & I feel like a stranger in my body more than ever,” Holliday wrote. “I wasn’t anticipating this at all.”
The Mississippi native has become a kind of body-positive activist. The first size-22 in the industry, Holliday has been quick to address the overwhelming criticism of her body.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On her recent Instagram post she says, “I debated on whether or not to post this, but I think it’s important to be honest about what it’s like to be a woman in the media, who recently had a baby & the pressure that’s put on new moms to ‘lose the baby weight,’” Holliday continued. “I was fat before, I carried a healthy baby & guess what, still fat … & THAT’S OK.”
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Engaged to Australian artist Nick Holliday, she says doesn’t square with a partner’s job to “lift your spirits,” adding, “We have to be our own cheerleaders. So that’s what I will do, take it day by day. It’s a journey, not a race … & a beautiful one at that. #6monthspostpartum. #effyourbeautystandards.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She is already mom of son Rylee, 10, from a previous relationship.
Holliday was slammed in April after posting photos of herself pregnant.
To her trolls she wrote, “It’s also okay to tell someone to f--k off when they give you unsolicited advice about what’s ‘best’ for you & your baby,” she wrote. “As women, we know what’s best & that’s our business … No one else’s.”