Robyn Lawley takes pride in her post-baby body, and she wishes every mother could feel this way.
The 26-year-old plus-size Sports Illustrated swimsuit model took to Facebook to show she isn't ashamed of her body or her stretch marks now that she's given birth. She captioned the photo with a lengthy post on why she chose to post a photo like this after a U.K. gossip publication completely misinterpreted her in an interview last year and titled an article, "Robyn considers abortion to avoid stretch marks."
She went on to explain how hurt she was by - not only the misunderstanding of the interview - but by the fact that people were bullying her with their comments. Rather than lay down and take it, Lawley became a true role model to those who struggle with body image and self-confidence issues.
"As for my stretch marks," she wrote. "I knew they were coming and as they're fading into white (like all my others) I thought I might capture them. Because they are some bad ass #tigerstripes. And I earned them. We put an unbelievable amount of ridiculous time consuming pressure on women to care so much about their flaws they forget how truly beautiful they (you) are today. F--k them, who cares, be you, be loud, be proud. And put your efforts into skills that rely more on your physical self. And to anyone who feels bad about your body especially after a baby, you are a warrior, you created a life inside you, that's no easy feat."
Lawley gave birth to her daughter, Ripley Dorothy, in February and has been focusing on staying healthy instead of getting her post-baby body back with some crazy diet. "I don't believe in restricting myself," she told People in September. "I generally eat what I want, when I want, but I keep it in moderation...You have to feel good about your body and I think the best way to do that is by doing something like camping or hiking and making your body do more than just looking nice."
Lawley said she is going to raise her daughter with the same mind set, because she doesn't want her to worry about her weight or feel pressured to look good. "When you have to lose a lot of weight for modeling, you're not strong and you're not healthy, it's like the exact opposite," she explained. "So for me, I really want to make sure my daughter feels good and looks healthy and is happy with that."
Following the post-baby body photo, she took to Instagram to thank her fans for being so supportive. "Feeling a lot of love guys," she captioned a photo of her and her daughter. "Thank you so much for your positive comments it's awesome to read. Love from Rip and I xxx #tigerstripes."
Almost a year ago, an interview from a very honest maybe too honest conversation with a friend was manipulated and taken...
Posted by Robyn Lawley on Thursday, October 22, 2015
