Influencer posts bikin! pic that would have ‘upset’ her in past – and ‘inspires’ others
Social media isn’t a reflection of real life. People typically only post their best photos – whether this be when they look ripped at the gym, are frolicking in a bikini on the beach or sharing a filtered selfie. But Molly Ava wants to change this. So she’s been posting more candid photos onto her Instagram page, where she has 345,000 followers. The 23-year-old fitness coach, from Bournemouth, uploaded an image that would have “upset her in the past”. In the photo, she rocks a bright blue bikini as she sits in a relaxed pose to celebrate the natural folds of her body. She wanted to show how keeping it natural is beautiful too – and certainly achieved this.
Molly captioned the images: “A few years ago I would’ve been upset by the second image… “That was because I saw so many peoples 1% online that I was embarrassed and upset by my 99%, I was so used to seeing someone’s posed mirror selfie that it was easy to forget that their body could move and change, I would’ve covered up my stretch marks and viewed them as something to be ashamed of, not a sign of growth “I would’ve been so horrified about the way my body looked and deleted the video (second pic is a screenshot) and only posted something where I made myself look as small as possible, but BOTH of these are MY same body, the same day.
“Now I see…
- two pictures of a body that serves and cares for me more than I’ll ever know
- a lovely bikini that I feel beautiful in, in both images
- my lovely little rolls that are normal, natural and make me ME
- my sparkly shiny stretch marks that show my GROWTH
“Be kind. your body is beautiful”
Molly’s body positive post garnered 5,600 likes and plenty of positive comments. One responder gushed: “I appreciate that you’re so real, thank you.” Another said: “I live for this authenticity. Thank you for all that you do.” And a third added: “This is so inspiring. I want to see so much more of this on social media and keep working on myself to celebrate my own body that much too. Love it!”
