Sarah Nicole Landry opens up about 'major body image issues' and her body journey

Sarah Nicole Landry is getting real about her body journey.

The Canadian influencer — better known as The Birds Papaya — recently took to Instagram to share three side-by-side photos of herself, comparing the drastic changes her body has gone through over the years.

The mother-of-four paired the photos with an honest message about disordered eating and how her body image beliefs have evolved.

"About 10 years ago, after my third postpartum and a move back to my hometown, I went on a quest to lose weight," she explained to her more than 2.1 million followers. "I lost 100 lbs. I was loved for it. Celebrated and adored."

"I lost more weight during my divorce. I started restricting more and more — ignoring the medical problems that were popping up, chalking it up to stress and overworking," Landry continued, before saying that she still "wasn't happy" despite the weight loss.

"I was lying to myself and others. I had disordered eating, I had major body image issues, I was scared and I just wanted to be accepted," she wrote. "So much so, that I would conform my body to a standard it couldn’t even keep up with."

Landry recalled that her Instagram explore page exposed her to body-positive influencers "who talked about body acceptance," and eventually, she "chose to slowly start to believe them."

"I started to feel safer in my body. I started to feel less anxious about going out in public," she wrote. "I’ve been doing just that ever since. Struggling and showing up."

In the comments, fans thanked Landry for sharing her body journey.

"Your story is so powerful and resonates with so many of us in different ways thank you for always showing up so beautifully," one Instagram user wrote, while another added, "Beautifully said, thank you for sharing!"

"You are absolutely inspirational," someone else chimed in.

"Your journey has helped me in mine so much! Thank you for the authenticity!" commented another.

"Beautiful summary. And 100 per cent relatable," a fan shared.

Last month, Landry shared an important reminder about not letting insecurities get in the way of "joy."

She explained that while laying in bed, scrolling her phone, she put her shirt over her double chin to hide it from her husband.

"I thought about how often we do that — cover-up. Hide. Delete. Edit, even. Flatter the 'unflattering' angles," Landry wrote, adding that doing so is the "erasure of joy."

"I thought about that smile on my face. That absolute magical feeling of laughter and how by expressing it, I got this photo," she penned. "How beautiful is joy? I think it’s perhaps our most flattering angle."

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