About five years ago, I lost 45 kg within a year, purely by exercising and eating healthy. When I was young, I never really cared about my weight. The only thing that really bothered me were other people's comments. When I was about 18 years old, I felt like my weight restricted me from being my own happy self. In order to find myself again, I started my weight loss journey.
I had never really been insecure, except when I had lost weight. When I was 22 years, my belly suddenly looked like I had put four children into the world already. While everyone around me told me to be proud of myself, I felt more and more pressure to maintain my new weight. The second year after losing weight, that combined with other circumstances led to me being depressed. I felt like I had lost control and after more than a year my doctor told me I was suffering from bulimia. Having to deal with that on top of everything was tough, especially because every day people would tell me I looked so good now and I had done so well. I lived in constant fear of waking up 45kg heavier again, because I finally felt like I was good enough now. However, I got past it and fortunately I've been healthy again for three years now.
What helped me immensely was looking in the mirror every day for 100 days straight. To just look at everything from top to bottom, preferably in lingerie or naked. And then finish by being grateful for being here and being happy with my body.
I have noticed that your own attitude and self-confidence really matter. Also, the way you look at others influences the way others see you. Your energy matters, and you shouldn't be afraid to show your strength and share it with others. I wish we would all start looking at people's bodies with a lot more compassion and joy instead of judgement, especially our own. Therefore, I gladly participated in normalizing seeing something else than a toned body.
We feel blessed that Frouke joined our shoot and spread her great energy with us. By the way, she's also inspiring on Instagram (@frrouke) so definitely check her out. Want to discover more inspiring women? Check our previous blog post about the perfectly normal beauty campaign!