• Motto

An Anorexia Survivor Shows How Gaining Weight Improved Her Life

2 minute read

In an Instagram post that has accumulated nearly 80,000 likes, body positivity advocate and anorexia survivor Megan Jayne Crabbe shares how her life has changed for the better since she gained weight.

The post shows two photos side-by-side, one taken two and a half years ago, when Crabbe was suffering from anorexia, and one taken recently. “I’ve gained my life back after so many years of believing that I wasn’t worthy of living it because of how my body looked,” she writes. Crabbe was diagnosed with anorexia at 14 and at one point weighed only 65 pounds. Now, with over 540K Instagram followers and a blog, she celebrates her body and others’ physiques, spreads body-positive messages and dispels negative stereotypes about weight.

“I know the world wants you to believe that the less you weigh the happier you’ll be,” she says. “I know I’m supposed to feel ashamed of this transformation. I’m supposed to vow to lose the weight, I’m supposed to spend my life chasing the body on the left and buying into the idea that I’ll be more valuable once I get there. But I’m not going to do that.”

 

[H/T The Huffington Post]

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com