Model Tess Holliday shared that she is “anorexic and in recovery” after a battle with the eating disorder.
The plus-size model, 35, said her anorexia is a result “of a culture that celebrates thinness & equates that to worth.”
“I’m anorexic & in recovery. I’m not ashamed to say it out loud anymore,” Holliday tweeted over the weekend. “I’m the result of a culture that celebrates thinness & equates that to worth, but I get to write my own narrative now. I’m finally able to care for a body that I’ve punished my entire life & I am finally free.”
Holliday chose to speak publicly about her struggles after receiving comments about her changing weight.
“To everyone that keeps saying ‘you’re looking healthy lately’ or ‘You are losing weight, keep it up!’ Stop,” she wrote on Instagram. “Don’t. Comment. On. My. Weight. Or. Perceived. Health. Keep. It. To. Yourself. Thanks✌🏻”
Holliday, who has two children, acknowledged that she did lose weight but is now “feeding my body regularly for the first time in my entire life.”
“For folks like me that are trying to reframe our relationships with our bodies & heal, hearing comments about weight is triggering as hell,” Holliday continued on Instagram. “It sets us back in our progress — and when people working on themselves see you commenting to me that way, it hurts THEM, not just me.”
Although Holliday’s posts received positive responses, she also faced negative comments from body shamers.
“Not the ‘but your fat how are you anorexic’ comments. Y’all don’t know how science & body works huh,” she tweeted. “My technical diagnosis is anorexia nervosa & yes, I’m still not ashamed. I’m too damn happy for y’all to even come close to dimming my shine.”