Woman Posts Unretouched Bikini Photo to Inspire Women Around the World
Molly Galbraith took the Internet by storm with her body-positive Facebook post.
— -- A Kentucky fitness professional is inspiring women across the world after revealing what she calls a "body-positive" image of herself.
Molly Galbraith, 31, of Lexington, Kentucky, shared an unretouched photo of her bikini body on Facebook two weeks ago.
"I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share my story," she told ABC News. "It just gives an idea of the state of our world right now. We’re fighting back against the multi–billion dollar fitness industry that preys on the insecurities of women to sell them fads and quick fixes they don’t need. It's this goal of getting women the information they do need to live their happiest lives."
Galbraith, who is the co-founder and owner of girlsgonestrong.com, said she uploaded her bikini photo on Jan. 1 in hopes of changing how other women feel about their bodies.
"On New Year's Eve I woke up and I said 'I actually haven't made a resolution on changing the way my body looks this year,'" she said. "This year is the first year and I believe in the power of personal narrative and I wanted to show the world 'I'm a woman who doesn’t want to change the way her body looks.' I thought that would be a powerful thing for women to see and hear.'"
Galbraith's post, which showed her in a striped bathing suit, read, in part:
"This is my body. This not a before picture. This is not an after picture. This just happens to be what my body looks like on a random Tuesday in December of 2015 — it's a LIFE picture. This is a body that loves protein and vegetables and queso and ice cream. This is a body that loves bent presses and pull-ups and deadlifts and sleep.This is a body that I spent too much time, energy, and mental space wishing would look differently. And today? Today this is a body that is loved, adored, and cherished by the only person whose opinion matters — ME."
Galbraith's photo generated over 115,000 likes and has grabbed national media attention.
And while comments to her Facebook page are overwhelmingly positive, Galbraith said she's also had her fair share of naysayers.
"This entire post is about how harshly women are judged and when you read comments [on news platforms] people were vicious, I mean absolutely horrible," she said. "I’m so determined to get my message to people and especially those who are being so mean, [even though] that’s tough to swallow. Those who are being rude and are in a really bad place, it kind of hurts my heart, [but] they're the ones who need it most."
Galbraith said she hopes to continue to help women achieve their goals through her social media movements and "love your body" challenges.
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