This Woman Just Bought Her First Ever Bikini, She’s 31 | HuffPost Life

She's struggled with body issues for years.

By

Parents editor at HuffPost UK

A woman who battled with weight issues for most of her life has bravely shared a photo of herself sporting her first ever bikini.

Krystal Gordon, 31, shared the empowering photo on Facebook and was met with warmth and praise from the online community.

The blogger, who shares her fitness and wellness journey online, hopes the photo will inspire others to learn to love themselves and their bodies.

“You don’t need a certain type of body to have a bikini body,” she said. “You just need to put a bikini on!”

Gordon shared a photo of herself sporting a brand new, floral bikini on her Facebook page ‘Krystal Gordon - Inspiring Wellness’.

She wrote: “Omg, I just bought a bikini!!! What the heck? Lol. I also just took and shared a front on photo of me without my clothes on - double what the heck!?

“Loving thy self baby. Embracing it all. Being proud of my progress. Accepting me for who I am right now even if it isn’t where I want to be.”

She continued: “Now don’t get me wrong, sharing this isn’t easy by any means - every bit of me is going ‘holy shit Krystal, what are you doing!?’. But if I can happily accept and celebrate everyone else’s body, I sure as hell deserve the same love from myself.”

Gordon said she has given herself the goal of wearing her new bikini in public.

“I WILL get there. It WILL happen. You don’t need a certain type of body to have a bikini body - you just need to put a bikini on,” she concluded.

The wellness blogger said she shared the post to inspire others to do the same. She told Australia’s NewsMail: “That moment of vulnerability was totally worth it because it made someone else think about loving themselves.”

Gordon’s post prompted other women to write to her telling her that she’d inspired them to buy a swimsuit and love themselves.

Hayley Sayers wrote on the post: “OMG you have made my day beautiful girl!! You look amazing and now you have inspired me to ‘just do it’.”

Maddie Azzopardi added: “This is so inspiring to everyone!! You rock that thing girl.”

Overwhelmed by the response she received, Gordon later posted on Facebook to say: “I can tell you right now that my heart is so full due to this.

“Thank you all again, and please remember you are absolutely worthy of the love that you so freely give to others. You are amazing and you are beautiful.”

Before You Go

Our Body Image Heroes

Serena Willliams (01 of10)

Serena Willliams was told she is "built like a man" by Twitter trolls, but that didn't stop her being super body confident."I love that I am a full woman and I’m strong and I’m powerful and I’m beautiful at the same time," she said. "And there’s nothing wrong with that." (credit:TIMOTHY A. CLARY via Getty Images)

Tess Holliday (02 of10)

Lines like this are why we love Tess Holliday: "It's okay to be yourself, even if you happen to exist in a fat body. I'm sexy, confident and give no fucks. Also, fuck anyone for saying otherwise. " (credit:Curve Fashion Festival)

Demi Lovato (03 of10)

Having previously opened up about her struggles with an eating disorder, Demi Lovato posed for an un-touched nude photo featured on the cover of Vanity Fair."I basically went from hating every single inch of my body to working on myself and trying to figure out ways to love myself and love the skin that I'm in," she said in an accompanying interview."I learned after working very hard on my spirituality and my soul and my body, I learned that you can get to a place where you love the skin that you're in and I'm excited to share that with the world." (credit:Vanity Fair)

Jameela Jamil (04 of10)

Jameela Jamil has launched an inclusive clothing range to end the plus-size divide once and for all.“I find it infuriating that in this industry, size 10 and above is defined as ‘plus size’ especially when the average dress size in the UK is a 16," she said."We really shouldn’t be putting a label on size, fashion is for all and I think confidence and happiness is more important than dress labels.” (credit:David M. Benett via Getty Images)

Chrissy Teigen(05 of10)

Chrissy Teigen proved even models aren't perfect when she posted a picture of her stretch marks on Instagram.Her post promoted comments like: "I've had stretch marks since I was 12 years old at 5'9". So important for young girls and now 29 year olds to see." (credit:Michael Loccisano via Getty Images)

Kate Winslet (06 of10)

Actress Kate Winslet is determined to help her daughter develop a healthy body image."When I grew up, I never heard positive reinforcement about body image from any female in my life," she said. "I only ever heard negatives. That's very damaging because then you're programmed as a young woman to immediately scrutinise yourself and how you look.""And so I stand in front of the mirror and say to Mia, 'We are so lucky that we've got a shape. We're so lucky we're curvy. We're so lucky that we've got good bums.' And she'll say, 'Mummy, I know, thank God.' It's working, that thing that I've been doing. It's paying off." (credit:Matt Crossick/Matt Crossick)

Lupita Nyong'o(07 of10)

Lupita Nyong'o has spoken out against the lack of diversity in the media saying: "European standards of beauty are something that plague the entire world—the idea that darker skin is not beautiful, that light skin is the key to success and love."She also loves her skin, as proven by her appearance in a brilliant Sesame Street sketch. (credit:Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

Ashley Graham (08 of10)

Model Ashley Graham refuses to be defined by her size."It’s fantastic when I’m not labeled as a plus size model in any interview or editorial I do," she told HuffPost UK Style."It makes a statement for women out there, 'look she’s not being described by her size, she’s being honoured by the things that she’s doing in the world'." (credit:Andy Kropa /Invision/AP)

Amy Schumer(09 of10)

When a film critic called actress and comedian Amy Schumer "chubby", she responded by saying: "I am a US size 6 and have no plans of changing. This is it. Stay on or get off."Brilliant. (credit:Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Alexa Chung (10 of10)

Alexa Chung has been skinny-shamed and called "gross" by online trolls, but instead of letting the haters get her down, she's become a spokesperson for body diversity in the media."I would love to look like Daisy Lowe, but I don't... but I'm happy with how I look. Equally, I don't want to use this as an example of how young girls should look," she said. (credit:KGC-146/STAR MAX/IPx)

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