“You’re fat, you’re ugly and you’re disgusting” — that’s what Taryn Brumfitt said to herself every morning as she looked at herself in the mirror.
She was a mother and she felt the effects of it on her body. But she had long been self conscious about her body, ever since she was a child in fact. And she felt she was alone in feeling that way.
But her self-consciousness got even worse when she became a mom.
“After I had children, I began to hate my body,” says Brumfitt, continuing. “I wanted to get a tummy tuck and breast implants.”
But when Taryn looked at her daughter, she wondered what message she would send her by doing so, so she canceled her appointments with the clinic. Still, she hated what she looked like. So… she started training to join of a bodybuilding contest.
“I trained for several hours each day, and set hard rules for what I ate. I lost a lot of weight and had a real ‘bikini body’ — the kind of body that so many women seek.”
But even as Taryn posed in front of 1,000 people, she realized she was still not happy.
“It was not worth it. I was not leading a balanced life.”
After the competition, the pounds began to come back. But finally, it did not matter. After the competition, Taryn had begun to understand that she could love her body for what it could do, and not just how it looked. After hearing all her girlfriends complaining about their bodies, Taryn released a different ‘before and after’ image. The before previews her body during the contest, while the after reveals her truly loving her body — despite gaining several pounds.
This image went viral. In just one day, 3.2 million people had seen the image. It launched a debate all over the world about how we look at our bodies.
Taryn received thousands of emails with heartbreaking stories and decided to do something about it, which led to her writing her book Embrace. Soon, the book was made into a film that can be found on iTunes or on Brumfitt’s website bodyimagemovement.com.
Taryn’s story about learning to appreciate one’s body for what it can do and not just how it looks is so inspirational! It’s a direct counter attack on the beauty industry’s ruthless money making business.
Please help us share this article to pay tribute to Taryn and help others understand that their bodies are beautiful as they are.
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