King’s Instagram feed consists of unflattering positions and angles, juxtaposing this with the typical ‘fake’ poses that models use to make their stomachs appear flatter, and their figures more curved. “THIS IS ME. THIS IS MY BODY. No flattering angles, no flattering lighting, just me and my body feeling on top of the world,” she wrote on one post. “A few years ago I would never have posted this, all I cared about back then was being the leanest I could, going to the gym as many times as I could a week and counting every calorie I ate.”
Chessie’s feed proves that most of us are hung up on the idea of perfection which is impossible to achieve this way making our lives miserable. “Even at my smallest, when I was training the most & eating the least, I just wanted to cover up my body because it wasn’t my idea of ‘perfect.’ Now my priority is to be happy and comfortable in my own skin, and today I appreciate my body and what it does for me. We were not made to be Barbie dolls who LOOK insanely good 24/7, we were made to be HUMAN and we should all be allowed to FEEL insanely good 24/7. Come at me keyboard warriors, you can say what you want but nothing will knock me down.”
Meet Chessie King, Instagram blogger whose goal is to spread body positivity
Her mission is to encourage confidence in your own skin instead of trying to achieve unattainable Instagram goals
“Neither of these photos are edited or photoshopped, same bottom just 2 completely different angles”
“It infuriates me to see ‘you’re too fat to wear those trousers’ on a recent post of mine. When I was the size I was in the left photo I had people telling me I was ‘too thin’ & ‘needing feeding up’…”
“It’s okay to find your ‘pose’ you feel comfortable in in photos but it’s even better to feel comfortable just standing flat foot on the ground, smiling like the grinch”
Chessie continues to push back against unrealistic ideals
“We’re all guilty of trying to pose to make our bodies look the best it can & that’s okay…”
“…but it’s photos like the right that help us all feel a little bit normal”
“I can change my body in 2 seconds, from the left photo to the right & in both, I feel good” Advertising
“Just a little reminder how easy it is to change your body”
“Left: this morning (no ‘flattering lighting’ or tensing) Right: this afternoon. I’ve eaten alllll the chocolate, all the hot cross buns & ALL the popcorn”
“Instagram is FLOODED with the left photos when actually we should be drowning in ‘the real life booty’ pictures”
“This is not a pregnancy announcement. This is 8:30am Friday morning. Bloating doesn’t just happen after a day of eating loads of food”
“Hot sweaty mess to Wimbledon ready in just half an hour”
“These photos are literally a second apart”
“If I edited my photos like the right, people would see me face to face & be like HELLLLL SHE DOUBLED IN SIZE”
“When I was at my smallest, I was definitely not my happiest”
King reminds everyone that focusing on your weight is not the way to gaining body-confidence
“These photos were taken just minutes apart. The leggings on the left are a Large, the leggings on the right are a Small. Different brands”
Despite being a body-positivity blogger, Chessie still deals with body shamers all the time, so she photoshopped her body based on their criticisms
“If we changed our body for every troll, listened to every cyber bully, we would be monsters”
“Whether you have 23 followers or 3 million, NO ONE should have to deal with regular hate online”
