If
the thought of sharing a bikini selfie on social media makes you want
to dive behind the nearest sand dune, then you’ll likely appreciate the
magnitude of one mom’s recent post to Facebook. Krystal
Gordon, a 31-year-old blogger, had never worn a bikini. Until recently,
she had never even owned one. Feeling self-conscious about her
body, Gordon had never had the courage to bare all in a bikini — until
now.
Taking to her Facebook page,
Krystal shared an image of herself in her first-ever two-piece and
included an empowering message encouraging other women to love
themselves and their bodies. And it turns out, the Internet can’t get
enough of it.
“Omg,
I just bought a bikini!!! What the heck? Lol,” she wrote. “I also just
took and shared a front on photo of me without my clothes on – double
what the heck!?
“Loving
thy self baby. Embracing it all. Being proud of my progress. Accepting
me for who I am right now even if it isn’t where I want to be.”
Gordon, who
blogs about her health and well-being, went on to say that it had taken
a lot of courage to share the snap, but that she wanted people to know
that if she could do it, anyone could.
“Now
don’t get me wrong, sharing this isn’t easy by any means – every bit of
me is going ‘holy s*** Krystal, what are you doing!?’” she wrote. “But
if I can happily accept and celebrate everyone else’s body I sure as
hell deserve the same love from myself ;)”
Krystal
said her goal was to wear her bikini in public before going on to share
an inspiring message to others to remember that all bodies are bikini
bodies.
“I
WILL get there. It WILL happen,” she wrote. “You don’t need a certain
type of body to have a bikini body – you just need to put a bikini on!”
Krystal’s first-ever bikini selfie has received countless comments from people praising her body positive message.
“OMG you have made my day beautiful girl!! You look amazing and now you have inspired me to ‘just do it,’” one woman wrote.
“This is so inspiring to everyone !! You rock that thing girl,” added another.
Krystal later thanked those who left comments for their incredible support.
“You
guys!!! Ya’ll have made me cry,” she wrote. “You have no idea what your
messages have meant to me – thank you. Big love to you all.”
The
mother of one, who has battled weight issues most of her life,
said that she hopes her message will help make others think twice
about criticizing their own body flaws.
“That moment of vulnerability was totally worth it because it made someone else think about loving themselves,” she said.
Now, instead of focusing on her appearance, Krystal tries to focus on one body part she is grateful for.
“Up
until the start of this year, it was always about weight loss, and even
up to a couple of months ago, I thought the key to being who I wanted
to be was losing weight, getting fit, and being positive,” she said.
“I
deserve to love, accept, and appreciate myself today, the way I am.
This journey that I’m on is nothing to do with weight loss. It’s about
being healthy and happy, and that comes from within.”
