Hey curvy girls all over the world,
It’s been over a year since 25 year old Ashley Nell Tipton won season 14 of Project Runway. Since her historic win, the designer has launched a clothing line with JCPenney, her very own line of plus size jewelry, and even her own pattern and prints with Simplicity. So, needless to say, the girl has been busy building her empire. Just last week, Ashley sat down with People magazine to reveal that she had Gastric Bypass Surgery.
In the interview, she says, “For a while now I’ve been dealing with depression, and I’ve had this up and down battle with myself, I feel like I’m in such a prime time of my life with everything that’s happening. I couldn’t ask for anything else, but I felt trapped in my body.”
Surprisingly, a myriad of plus size women and men feel the exact same way. Even though the body positive movement is growing with support. On Project Runway, Ashley made sure to show the world, that fashion should be for all shapes and sizes. She proved that with her winning New York Fashion Week collection. But fashion for all and living a healthy lifestyle are two different things. I’ve always believed that you can be healthy and plus size. One of the most misconceptions about plus size women and men is that they don’t workout and all they do is gorge on food. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Contrary to popular belief, fat people do workout and there are doctors who believe that you can be plus size and healthy.
Ashley was having some personal health issues and that’s what prompted her to take action. “I found out that my blood pressure wasn’t okay and that I had a fatty liver. All these health risks were coming up. I was like, no wonder I’m not happy, because my body is working 10 times harder to try to be healthy.”
She also told People that she had a skin infection which was caused by folds in her skin. “Going into the hospital for something that was caused by just being overweight really struck a nerve, “I didn’t ever want to be in that pain again or have another scare like that. I was like, I really need to figure out what I can do to lose weight and get healthier. It had nothing to do with how big I am. I still wanted to be plus-size, but I wanted to be plus-size in a way I can work with, and at that point I didn’t feel like that.”
There are some people in the body positive community who were not happy with the news of Ashley’s gastric bypass surgery. To those people, Ashley had this to say,
“It’s My Life, It’s My Health, It’s My Body, It’s My Choice”
I praise Ashley for her honesty. At the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for you.
How do you feel about Ashley Nell Tipton getting weightloss surgery?
Read the full story on People
Good for her. What she does really shouldn’t make people upset. She’s the only person that has to walk in her shoes and most important her body. When your body starts to feel more like a prison and you hate the way you feel the natural instinct is to do something about it. Plenty of people who are plus live normal lives, they are active they are healthy but some don’t. Some are in pain, and having these health issues. It can go either way. I can tell you from experience staying in the doctor to health: weight related ailments is not were it’s at.
Body Positivity supporters can be divided in their opinions of what exactly is body positivity. It’s not about skinny or not so skinny, it’s about being healthy (mentally and physically)– finding peace and self -acceptance with where you are on your journey.
Yes it is her body. But you have no credibility as someone speaking on body positivity. How can you be body positive and then mutilate your body by cutting out 90% of your stomach. Anymore cutting up your digestive tract is considered the first and only choice for weight loss. I hate to see young women do this unless it is a last resort. The have only been doing these over 20 years so we will see what happens to people as they age. I wish her the best, it just makes me a little sad