While there are some dark places in the internet, there are also some women who have taken to social media to advocate for eating disorder recovery, to challenge beauty and body standards and to spread self-love to their followers. Recently, some of Instagram’s most followed body positivity warriors joined together as panelists for The Body Confidence Carnival. The Body Confidence Carnival includes a collection of blog posts on various topics that are meant to help women of all shapes, sizes and walks of life examine self-confidence and body love. Now, let the stories and missions of the following five body positive warriors inspire you to feel a little (or a lot) of self love today.

Megan Crabbe (@bodyposipanda)

As a recovered anorexic and a self-described “recovered self-loather,” Megan Crabbe is on a mission to upset the “my body is not good enough” mentality that is so prevalent throughout our society. The 23-year-old strives to expose the lies of the dieting industry and to show people that it is possible to change the way we think about our own bodies. The high value that Crabbe places on body inclusivity is evident on her website, where she writes, “All bodies are welcome here – all sizes , all ages, all genders, all races, all abilities.”

 

Caroline Donner (@thefuckitdiet)

Donner’s Instagram handle might be a little misleading when it comes to representing her mission as a body positivity advocate. Yes, Donner is starkly against fad diets and society’s obsession with being “healthy” to the point of actually being unhealthy. But more importantly, she wants to show people the importance of focusing on yourself and body intuition, rather than on weight and appearance. With the creation of the “Become Your Own Damn Guru Intuition Intensive,” Donner is teaching people how to listen to their own bodies through the lens of the first 4 chakras: root, sacral, solar plexus and heart. She is empowering others to take charge of their own lives and of their own bodies, not just for physical health benefits but also for mental health benefits as well.

Anastasia Amour (@anastasiaamour)

Anastasia Amour is a body image and self-love coach who teaches “self-love with substance.” Her unique philosophy has led her to develop a social media community of over 50,000 women who work to support and uplift each other through the good and the bad. On Amour’s website, tons of articles can be found on topics ranging from body image therapy to selfies as an act of radical self-love. She has also put out a book titled, “Inside Out,” in which she offers readers a 14-day guide to transforming their mind-body relationships. Amour’s mains goals include helping others to make peace with their flaws and helping others to stop allowing negative thoughts to dominate their mindsets. In her own words, “My goal is to help women all over the world to love their beautiful bodies.”

Aarti Dubey (@curvesbecomeher)

Aarti Dubey struggled with weight and body issues for the majority of her life. When she turned thirty, Dubey made the conscious decision to embrace her body, rather than to hate on it. By launching her website, Dubey created a space all of her own where she could discuss the topics that mattered to her: plus-size fashion, female empowerment, body positivity and health in mind, body and spirit. She encourages people of all shapes, sizes and abilities to engage with her content and to embark on a body-hate free lifestyle.

 

Dana Suchow (@dothehotpants)

Dana Suchow began her own style blog back in 2012 called Do The Hotpants. But unbeknownst to her followers and readers, Suchow was also suffering from Compulsive Exercising and Binge Eating Disorder. She had struggled with loving her body and skin her whole life and the pressure to look perfect online only exacerbated the problem. For the first two years of blogging, Suchow would use Photoshop to remove her skin blemishes, to erase cellulite and to straighten her slightly crooked nose. But eventually, all of the work going into forcing perfection became too much and Suchow began to rethink how she was portraying herself online.

Suchow decided to come clean to herself and to her followers by posting “Photos I Wish I Didn’t Photoshop,” a collection of retouched photos alongside the unedited versions. This one post ended up going viral and gaining the attention of dozens of national new outlets and publications. Suchow has since started a weekly series on her blog titled #MyBodyStory, where readers can share their own body confidence struggles. Nowadays, you can find Suchow on social media speaking out about women’s rights, eating disorder issues and body positivity.

Image Courtesy of Getty Images.

By Shaye DiPasquale on August 1, 2016