These Women Have Told the World Why They’re Grateful for Every Pound They Put On

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While many women around the world constantly think about how to get thinner, there are others who are doing their best to work out how to put on weight.

We at LikedVideo were seriously impressed by the stories of these women who are counting the pounds they gain rather than how much they lose. Despite all the psychological and physical difficulties, they’ve learned to love themselves as they are. We advise everyone to do the same.

Hayley Harris

Hayley Harris admits that she began to starve herself to get closer to achieving that fragile, ultra-slim look which is often idealized for women in glossy magazines. She first launched her Instagram account when she was in the hospital recovering from an eating disorder. Hayley claims the support of her followers helped her cope with her illness. She now spends her time campaigning against the public idealization of thinness.

Courtney Black

Courtney Black weighed around 99 lbs just a couple of years ago. She worked as a fitness model, and she was convinced that the beauty of her muscles would only be revealed if she was extremely thin. She cut her food intake to 800 calories and tired herself out with hunger to the point where she had to go to the hospital. After treatment, Courtney began to consume 2,000 calories a day. She’s now a successful fitness instructor.

Megan Jayne Crabbe

Do you wanna know the truth about gaining weight? Because I've done a whole lot of it. I used to believe that my life would end over a couple of extra pounds on the scale. I used to believe that losing weight was the most important thing in the world. I used to believe that there was no such thing as going too far, getting too thin, losing too much. Then I nearly lost my life. There were only two options left: gain weight, or die. So I gained weight. More and more. Anorexia morphed into binge eating disorder and within a year I'd gone from 65lbs lying on my death bed to 180lbs, right back to self loathing and wanting to lose weight more than anything in the world. I lost and gained hundreds of pounds over the years. I'd clawed my way back from the edge and still I believed that happiness could be found in the dropping numbers on a bathroom scale. Until I realised that no weight loss had ever made me happy. No amount of disappeared pounds had made me stop hating my body. And chasing thinness had made me lose much more than weight — I'd lost myself. Now I know that no matter how much extra jiggle might come along, nothing important about me will have changed. I'll still have the same heart, the same mind, the same passion, the same love. The scale will never be able to tell me anything about myself that truly matters. It doesn't have the power to define me — only I do. And I refuse to keep chasing that empty promise of happiness granted through restriction and self hatred. I'll take my happiness right now. We are all so worthy of it, exactly as we are. Don't be afraid of gaining weight, my love. There's a whole life for you to gain when you stop letting those numbers dictate your worth. ?????

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Megan Jayne Crabbe weighed just 61 lbs at the age of 13. Her teenage hangups had just gone too far. However much she weighed, she was never satisfied with her body. Today Megan isn’t shy about her appearance, and she devotes her Instagram account to the idea that there’s no such thing as a woman who isn’t beautiful — it’s all simply in our minds.

Sarah Ramadan

2014 -> 2016 ? It's nice to look back sometimes, to remember the seeds that started this garden, and all the colours that give you warmth. I remember being told once by a doctor in a treatment centre that there was no such thing as a full recovery. He said that I would just have to learn to "live with it" In translation, he suggested I had to compromise with life and death. I had to accept the presence of disorder, dismantle my growth at the hand of mediocrity. There was a line drawn in my focus, and extending beyond this mark was a life I always wanted. But like a craving to food, these dreams were suppressed the limits I learned. It took 3 more years after leaving that hospital to discover that compromise would never work. The odds would shift in one hand or the other, and in 2014, mediocrity nearly left me out of the picture. My heart and various major organs were beginning to fail. I was 68 pounds. The disorder was winning, and in turn, I was dying. A break through moment happened one evening after returning from the hospital. I remembered a moment of my childhood, when I was about 4 years old. I had long hair and refused to wear anything but gowns and tiaras. I ate birthday cake for breakfast, and Halloween Candy was my favourite 'season' of all. When a song came on the radio, I would sing over the lyrics as if the music was made for me and my musing. I would smile at my own reflection, counting the dimples on my face as prerequisite kindergarden work. And I had big cheeks too! Nice full rosy cheeks that were pinch-able and perfect. So perfect, that I wished for nothing more. So perfect, that I refuse to wish her away. Life cannot compromise with death, the same way strength cannot compromise with defeat. I have learned this through both pain and practice. Fighting is not easy when the fight is for a cause; I know no greater reason than to fight for love. For in love, I grow. #TransformationTuesday #VeniVidiVici #FightForGrowth

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This is Sarah Ramadan. The difference between these two images is 2 years and 44 lbs. At 18, Sarah was suffering from depression, and this led her to anorexia. «I lived for too long apologizing for the extra calories that I needed,» admits Sarah. Now she does bodybuilding and is very happy with the way she looks.

Margherita Barbieri

Because how could I resist? #recovery #anorexiarecovery #strongnotskinny #warrior

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Margherita Barbieri worked as a dancer. After receiving several refusals at important casting sessions, she came to the conclusion that her lack of success was down to not being thin enough. She began to literally starve herself. As a result, her weight dropped to 55 lbs. Now Margherita understands that one’s health is more important than anything else, and she likes her new body way more than her old one.

Erika «The Tiger»

I watched for so long as she was drowning, doing nothing. She flailed and sunk and I just stood there. I was sure someone else would save her, someone more qualified. This little girl was dying. She made herself the victim, she was the cause of her pain and no one could stop her. It got out of her control, and every day she was screaming silently to be rescued from the wreck her existence had become. I was angry that no one would step in and do what had to be done. Someone. SAVE HER. But it's not that they didn't want to, it was that they couldn't. Though they tried, no one could get through. So I made up my mind. It had to be me. I would become the hero that girl needs. I would become strong enough to hold her, to heal her, to make sure she KNOWS I love her. I was her only hope, if I didn't do it, that girl would be gone. I found out what she felt and what she needed to let go of, and then I pulled it from her grip. I was the shoulder she leaned on, I was her sanity when the world didn't get it. Ask yourself what kind of hero you need, and then become her. #beyourownhero

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Erika The Tiger suffered from anorexia and bulimia from the age of 16. Like many other young girls, she saw herself as too fat and one day simply stopped eating. She then began to hate how thin she was and tried to hide this under shapeless garments. Learning to cope with her illness, Erika began to play sport, got married, and stopped being ashamed of her body.

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