After Aussie bikini designer Karina Irby posted about bloating and her body, people swarmed her comments with personal stories.
The age of the internet is also the age of FOMO – everyone seems to be living the life, wearing luxury brands, and enjoying their best beach bodies. Aussie bikini designer Karina Irby knows what you see on the internet is not what you get, so she decided to keep it real – and won a ton of hearts in the process.
This week, Irby – who champions body-positivity and blatantly calls out trolling and fat-shaming on her page – posted a picture of her near-naked body to show how it changes when she’s bloated, and how she’s learnt to accept as a natural part of being a woman.
“Does bloating ever get you to a point of feeling ugly, useless and exhausted? Because for me, last night I had all those exact feels.” she began.
“Even though I KNOW I’m ovulating. And I KNOW I had big lunch that my body would react too. It still got me feeling down about myself. I almost didn’t go to my workout class because I felt embarrassed by our bloated I was. Not to mention uncomfortable👎👎👎.” she added.
Irby noted how despite years of dealing with it, she still felt unprepared in the face of it. “I avoided my reflection in and out of the shower and had my back to the mirror the whole time. One glance and I’d feel so rotten and defeated about myself.” she said, before adding how she decided to turn a moment of ‘weakness and vulnerability’ into a powerful realisation.
“So I kindly took a moment and remembered that EVERYONE bloats. And most times, it doesn’t feel good for anyone. 😮💨I want to own the bloat instead of the bloat owning me!” she said.
Irby’s post struck a nerve with many, who showed her support by sharing their own stories in the comments.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this normal and something to not be ashamed of! You truly are an inspiration.” one comment read.
Another read: “I love that you share things like this. You are saving girls from eating disorders every day boo. I wish I had seen this type of thing when I was a teen. Thank you.”
“Wow. Really was hating on myself tonight for this exact reason. Life has a funny way of showing you exactly what you need to see at the moment you need to see it. THANK YOU for being so transparent and authentic! A true beauty inside and out!” another added.
