Conversations centered around weight loss in the plus-size body positivity community can be a bit tricky – especially when you are considered one of “the” spokespersons for the movement. The idea of being confident about one’s body, yet losing weight is a precarious state to be in – kind of like attempting to walk across a 100 foot tightrope that is millions of miles away from the ground – only in this case, you’ve got to be sure of your next move because a misstep could leave you crashing down to earth into a crowd of angry spectators just waiting to tear you apart.

Cece is currently on this figurative tightrope. But she has handled the situation with such honesty, grace, and class, and we love it!

Via a Youtube vlog, Cece recently revealed that she went from a US size 28 to a size 18 over a 2-year period. She revealed so many aspects of her personal struggle including:

• How she needed to lose weight during the course of battling major health issues
• Sometimes hiding behind the umbrella of “body positivity” in the past, when she clearly knew she should have been making healthier decisions food-wise
• Overcoming emotional eating
• Being apprehensive about talking about her weight loss due to feared backlash from the body positivity community

and more! Y’all need to watch the video to get the whole scoop.

The moral of the story: You can practice body positivity and still consciously make efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Afterall, the ultimate goal of body positivity is to love your body. And part of loving your body is making decisions that enable it to function well by making healthier nutrition decisions, engaging in physical activity, and doing whatever it takes to achieve wellness.

Photo Credit: Cece Olisa

Born Marsha Elle, the singer hasn’t always been so brazen. Her leg was amputated shortly after she was born due to a defect known as proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), a rare birth defect in which the femur bone in the upper thigh area is either malformed or missing, causing one leg to be shorter than the other. As a result, as a young girl Elle faced insecurities and bullying.

“As a child I was quite bashful and insecure,’ Marsha tells Metro. 

“I would wear baggy clothes to cover up my leg to avoid mean comments and stares.” Her turning point would come when she visited an amputee camp at the age of 16.

“Amputee camp really helped me to accept myself… I went to camp and met other amputees like myself. It was amazing – I did not feel alone. From then on, I vowed to embrace my body and help others do the same.”

Ever since then, the singer has gotten busy trying to keep that promise and judging from her photos on Instagram, which are so symbolic of power, beauty and strength, we can see she is doing just great.

Essence reports that not only has there been a favorable response to the singer-songwriter among the fellow amputee community for boldly facing her fears and insecurities, but celebrities have also taken notice of her. Actress, Jada Pinkett Smith recently reposted an image of Elle with this simple caption: “Beauty.”

With all the love she gets and her instagram racking up over 19,000 followers, she admits that she still gets some hate.

‘As an adult I learned to really embrace my amputation. I read some comments on social media but there are really mean people out there who just want attention. I will not give in to that.’

We love that she is so sure of her fierceness and she’s making us want to be fierce too. “No matter what, own your throne.” I feel like she personifies this statement. Not only is she such a delight to look at and derive hope from, her EP is also super awesome. To listen to the tracks, click here.

You better werk Miss Marsha!

Photo Credit: Instagram | Marshaellemusic

Amber,  34, who is frequenly shamed by detractors for being a former stripper, never hesistates to express her alternative views on just about everything, especially womens’ rights to own their sexuality and bodies. This advocacy is done in the most unorthodox ways. For instance, she encourages women to participate in a walk (a march of sorts) known as ‘slut walk.’ In defending her thought process behind this, she told Marie Claire magazine:

From the time I was a young girl—even before I was sexually active—it was a label that was placed on me. As soon as I came into the public eye, I was immediately criticized for everything from my behavior to how I chose to dress. It was undoubtedly hurtful, and getting used to the harsh words I hear so often is still something I struggle with.

Part of the reasons Rose has been so objectified in times past is due to her natural curves which can be credited in part for her fame. The beautiful hour glass-shaped mother of one mentions how she had developed big breasts by the age of 14 which grew to a cup size 36H as she gave birth to son, Sebastian Taylor Thomas.

In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, she mentions how her breast size had been so cumbersome that it prevented her from dancing properly with partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy in the 2016 season of hit dance show, ‘Dancing with the Stars’;  noting that it also became unbearably painful as she constantly felt heavy. The decision to do a breast reduction was an idea she had thought over for 3 years before deciding that it was time due to health reasons.

The star who admits that she was afraid that she woudn’t feel sexy acknowledges that it’s a decision she should have probably taken a while back.

“I was scared that I wouldn’t feel sexy anymore, but it got to the point where I literally was in pain.” “It was almost as if I had like a heavy backpack on my chest.”

The surgery which was a three and a half hour procedure performed by Dr. Gareth Fisher, a popular Beverly Hills surgeon, was a success with Amber going three cups down to a triple D.

“Now when I’m running out the door, I don’t have to search for the right bra to fit within the shirt or to match the color of the shirt, so, it doesn’t show and look gaudy,” Rose says. “I can kind of just throw it on and I’m like, ‘This is amazing!’ I’ve been missing this my whole life,” she says.

Would you get a breast or butt reduction if your health called for it? Or would you struggle it out for the sake of sexy?

Derin, who is a popular fashion blogger, recently took to her Instagram page, to share her experience about being a victim of body shaming. The petite beauty noted that despite all the evil comments people make about her size, they will never destroy her self-esteem.

She shared the photo below, along with caption:

Few days ago I posted a picture of myself in this outfit… Such a gorgeous outfit from @imadeduso_ and @sb_artistry also taught me how to highlight my face and I had my @hikkyshair on so believe me that you couldn’t tell me nothing on this day or on any day for that matter . Guess I wasn’t the only one that thought the outfit was cute because a lot of pages reposted which brings me to this story. Asides from everyone loving it, there were so many people who had comments regarding my size, from how skinny I am, to my head being the size of a football pitch LOL, to me being anorexic, having suicide tendencies and maybe not knowing how to carry out the suicide, it was so awful that @bellanaijaweddings had to turn of their comments.. Same day I read all this I had to go to the hospital to run some tests I had been avoiding but I didn’t have a choice as I knew something was wrong with me lately.

Found out that something is wrong and I have a growth inside me, but while waiting for the results to get printed I started thinking that what if I wasnt such a confident person or what if I actually wanted to gain weight but was having issues putting some on, what if I was depressed and as I got bullied, and all these notifications of comments came in and I read all the hateful body shaming comments and also found out about the growth within few hours of each other how would I have handled it all?

But if you actually know me you would know I am totally in love with my body, I cringe when it is even suggested that I am putting on weight, if you don’t know me personally I know you can tell from my pictures and stories how much of a happy person I am and thankfully none of those comments got or will ever get to me, but imagine I was fragile?

Bottom line is let’s all do better, I know I am also guilty sometimes of my thoughts and thinking how different someone would look if they just lost x amount of weight, well except you are my friend and I have opened my mouth to tease you that you are fat or your tummy is big ( I get to do that cause you are my friend sorry Bolanle LOL)

OH yeah this is another picture of my big head in my cute outfit with my ‘Anorexic’ body

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We totally agree with her. We all definitely need to do better! Not just in the way we talk about other people, but in the ways we talk to ourselves. Negative self-talk is just as bad, if not more worse than making depreciating comments about others.

Photo Credit: @derinfromisaleeko