We all want to be healthy and look our best.
However, when looking good becomes more important than being healthy – both mentally and physically – we know we have to make some adjustments. Unfortunately, society seems to put much more of an emphasis on being thin than it does on mental and actual physical health. That’s what fitness blogger Jacqueline Adan recently realized.
The Instagrammer used to weigh 510 pounds and found it difficult to enjoy her life the way she wanted to.
But after a ton of hard work in the gym and by changing her eating habits, she has now lost over 350 pounds.
Obviously, this is a huge feat is and something Adan should be especially proud of. However, not everybody is as supportive as her nearly 60,000 Instagram followers when it comes to her appearance.
Even though Adan has lost a ton of weight, she still has some excess skin from when she weighed more. Though she looks amazing, she has still been nervous to be seen in a bathing suit – until recently.
While on a vacation in Mexico, Adan decided to face her fears and wear a bathing suit for the first time in years.
She said it had been a long time since she had felt comfortable enough to wear a bathing suit and even longer since she had worn one without a coverup. But even though she felt that twinge of discomfort and self-consciousness, she decided to enjoy the fun in the sun without a coverup on.
But, just as she had feared, a couple near her started laughing and making comments as soon as she had taken off her coverup.
So what did she do? She took a deep breath, stepped into the pool, and ignored them completely. Instead of letting others’ opinions dictate what made her comfortable or not, she fought back against how much the situation bothered her and proceeded to enjoy herself anyway.
She told her followers:
“I am not going to let what other people think of me stop me from living my life. They do not know me. They do not know how I have worked my ass off to lose 350 pounds. They do not know how I am recovering from major surgeries. They have no right to sit and point and laugh at me. That’s why I smiled. It does not matter what others say or if they try to doubt you or try to bring you down. What matters is how you react to it.”
Jacqueline’s attitude in the face of rudeness and judgment from others is inspiring and can help other people overcome their fears and really start living their lives to the fullest.
We may not be able to change society’s perceptions about body image overnight, but we can get to a point where we no longer let people’s opinions bother us. After all, Jacqueline is right: A stranger on the street doesn’t know you or what you’ve been through, and, therefore, has no right to treat you poorly based on what you look like.
Although Adan’s weight loss is amazing and inspiring, it’s her attitude and her words that are inspiring countless other people out there.
Her positivity shows that beauty isn’t all about how you look. It’s about how you face the world and how much joy you can bring to it despite the negativity you may encounter.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
