'We are dealing with symptoms that rip away things that make you feel beautiful'

 

Well done to this mum for her inspirational post.

 

Body positivity doesn't come easy to a lot of mums.

 

Whether it's issues we had before pregnancy or how our body changed once Baby arrived, there are few mum who are 100 percent happy with their appearance, something mum-of-one 'Coach Shelby' is trying to fix. 

 

Instagram user PCOS Support Girl (aka Coach Shelby) uses social media to spread body positivity, especially for those who have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).

 

 

A post shared by PCOS Support girl™ (@pcos_support_girl) on Sep 5, 2017 at 3:13pm PDT

 

However, while it is good to encourage body positivity, Shelby admits that not everyone understands the correlation between body image and body acceptance with that of PCOS.

 

So she took to Instagram to make people more aware.

 

"We are dealing with symptoms that literally rip away things that make you feel like a beautiful, worthy human," she wrote. 

 

"We grow hair in weird places and lose it like John Travolta, and we are told we can't have babies, and then, we are given bodies that just can't figure out how to do that whole 'just eat less move more' gig." 

 

But that's not the only reason Shelby wants to talk about body image and PCOS; how you look is "often used to decided [...] treatment."

 

 

|| #myPCOSbody || •body acceptance and diversity & PCOS • I have been trying to explain and show how body image and body acceptance is a crucial part of PCOS for a couple years. I get asked often, • "What the hell does body acceptance have to do with PCOS?" • Well-EVERYTHING. We are dealing with symptoms that literally rip away things that make you feel like a beautiful, worthy human. We grow hair in weird places and lose it like John Travolta, and we are told we can't have babies, and then, we are given bodies that just can't figure out how to do that whole "just eat less move more" gig. • Because of the lack of understanding of how complex and diverse each case of pcos is and HOW it presents leads to one simple fact- our bodie's appearance is often used to decide our treatment. • Because of this, a widespread general opinion of PCOS is we are overweight, infertile, hairy hormonal pity party throwers who just need to 'try harder.' And thin women often get COMPLETELY dismissed because "if you're not overweight you can't have PCOS." • Weight loss is the fix for all your PCOS problems, we are told. .So OF COURSE we are more prone to being obsessed with changin our bodies and do anything to 'fix' them. • PCOS is a diverse,complex condition that affects each woman differently and presents in so many different bodies. • No wonder women with PCOS are more likely to battle negative body image, disordered eating, anxiety and depression. They're stuck in a box uneducated society and healthcare crafted. • I think it's time to show the world how diverse PCOS is. We are thin. Fat. Tall. Clear skin. Acne. Short. Young. Old. We have lumps and bumps and scars. Beautiful. We aren't broken. The viewpoint of what PCOS looks like is. • we need to end the stigma of what PCOS looks like and SHOW them what pcos looks like. • So let's do it. Let's start showing them who we are. • Tell your story. Be proud of who you are. Demand to be seen. Make them listen. Share your pcos story and tag #myPCOSbody and let's show the damn world how beautiful we all are.

A post shared by PCOS Support girl™ (@pcos_support_girl) on Sep 7, 2017 at 8:41am PDT

 

Explaining, she writes:

 

"A widespread general opinion of PCOS is we are overweight, infertile, hairy, hormonal, pity party throwers who just need to 'try harder.'

 

"And thin women often get COMPLETELY dismissed because 'if you're not overweight you can't have PCOS'. "

 

Many are also often told that weight loss can help to fix PCOS, something Shelby doesn't agree with. 

 

 

A post shared by PCOS Support girl™ (@pcos_support_girl) on Aug 31, 2017 at 6:46am PDT

 

"PCOS is a diverse, complex condition that affects each woman differently and presents in so many different bodies," she writes.

 

"No wonder women with PCOS are more likely to battle negative body image, disordered eating, anxiety and depression.

 

"They're stuck in a box uneducated society and healthcare crafted."

 

So Shelby wants "to show the world how diverse PCOS is."

 

"We are thin. Fat. Tall. Clear skin. Acne. Short. Young. Old. We have lumps and bumps and scars. Beautiful. We aren't broken."

 

The mum is encouraging others to share their PCOS stories in a bid to spread awareness of just how diverse the symptoms are.