Tess Holliday Shares Fitness Journey on Social Media

The plus-size beauty sweats it out on Instagram

Tess Holliday became a household name in 2015 after becoming the largest plus-sized model of her size and height to be signed to a mainstream modeling agency. Later that year, she went on to land the cover of People and since then, she’s landed covers with Cosmopolitan UK and Self.

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Poppin cherries & breakin hearts Wearing @fashionnovacurve #ad

A post shared by T E S S (@tessholliday) on Mar 30, 2019 at 5:53pm PDT

Over the years, Holliday has received criticism from many sides for her size and overall health. However, despite the hate, Holliday does her best to portray herself as authentically as possible. This means that one day, Holliday is posing with an ice-cream cone while the next she’ll be sweating it out in the gym.

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The last time I was running this fast I was chasing an ice cream truck @massy.arias #lookatthosetiddiesbouncetho

A post shared by T E S S (@tessholliday) on Apr 2, 2019 at 2:06pm PDT

Despite being openly body positive, Holliday frequently shares photos and videos of her workout sessions with celebrity trainer Massy Arias. And in a selfie posted to her Instagram, she addresses the stigma surrounding “fat folks working out.”

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reevaluating lately. Earlier today I shared on my stories that I’ve been working on my fitness & my career. It may seem to y’all that I’m not doing much work wise. Though I’m not able to share anything I’m working on YET (!), it makes me feel like folks don’t care about me or what I’m doing bc I’m not “busy”. Being “busy” is great, but our culture of workaholism is really difficult in so many ways. I’ve been doing my best to retrain myself to enjoy ALL the small moments that make up my life. I haven’t shared more about my fitness journey yet bc there is a stigma against fat folks working out. Though it feels silly to say, it is truly a journey. And it will always be. And I’m okay with that. I just want y’all to know that my feelings around fitness & “health” have zero to do with weight loss & everything to with improving my mental health & strengthening myself. It’s taken me a long time to realize that I want to honor myself in whatever physical form I take. I’m here for myself and I’m here for YOU. #effyourbeautystandards

A post shared by T E S S (@tessholliday) on Apr 5, 2019 at 8:16pm PDT

“I just want y’ all to know that my feelings around fitness & “health” have zero to do with weight loss & everything to with improving my mental health & strengthening myself,” Holliday explains to her fanbase. “It’s taken me a long time to realize that I want to honor myself in whatever physical form I take. I’m here for myself and I’m here for YOU.”

What do you think of Holliday’s fitness journey? Are you part of team #effyourbeautystandards? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments section.