‘It’s an action. You do it every day’ – Insta activist on body positivity
Instagram has become the go-to place to find body positive activists doing their thang and spreading the love.
Michelle Elman is one such activist, who fills her page with quotes, photos and inspiration for those looking to love themselves a little more.
People flock to Michelle's page for body-positive affirmations, and she reminds her followers that while she is happy in herself, there is no true secret to being body positive.
Michelle took a step outside of the usual narrative, to remind followers that body positivity is a journey.
'Well I'll tell you the secret… there is no secret. Yes there are things to learn, and mindsets to shift but there is no "secret". There is no quick fix.'
'It's a bunch of small baby steps that unfortunately you never got to see along the way because I didn't have an Instagram account when I was going through them. In fact, Instagram didn't exist. I was 15 when I was going through exactly what you are going through now.'
'It was just luck of the draw, that I went through it early. It is just lucky that I was so overwhelmed by diet culture that I screamed "STOP" younger.
'I know most of you look at my page and want to be where I am now but to those of you who are new to this, please listen to me when I say 1) You are not going to get there overnight 2) You can not rush the process 3) It won't be a linear uphill journey. 4) There will be some days where you question if you made any progress whatsoever 5) It is worth it 6) The process is part of the fun.'
'Body positivity is an action. You do it ever single day. You do it when you stop yourself right before you are about to mention a diet. You do it when you intervene on body shaming. You do it when you look in the mirror and tell yourself how much you love you, even when you don't want to. You do it when you stop a fat girl in the street to tell her how amazing she looks.'
'What you put into body positivity, you get out of it. This is not an online movement. This is a real life, let's f*****g accept everyone's bodies and while we are at it, love ourselves movement,' she finished.
While pretty quotes are ideal for a little boost, Michelle's real and raw depiction of journeying to self love really hits home.
