Woman who tried to 'wash off' stretch marks at 18 now works as curvy model

dailystar.co.uk:

body positivity campaigner who used to try and "wash" her stretch marks off at the age of 18 has spoken out about how her grandmother helped her completely change her outlook on body image.

Speaking about her past struggles, Felicity Hayward said the first time she noticed stretch marks on her stomach was back in 2007.She was 18 at the time and was staying at her then-boyfriend's house in Leeds.Felicity said she initially thought her jeans had made a mark on her skin so she did her best to try and get rid of the marks.She told The Sun: "At first I thought my jeans had stained my skin, and I tried to wash them off."But after a couple of minutes of scrubbing, it dawned on me what they actually were."All I could think was: 'Oh my god, I’ve ruined my body forever.'As magazines often airbrushed cellulite out in the past, Felicity thought it was something to be "ashamed" of.And her insecurities only grew as she attended school in Bury St Edmunds, where she was "always the biggest girl in (her) class".She recalls it feeling "embarrassing" at the time as her and her friends all wanted "Britney Spears’ washboard abs".Felicity said, for the majority of her time during secondary school, she was a size 16.

She attempted to lose weight by fad dieting, such as eating nothing but ice lollies, but this was unhealthy and unsustainable.

As Felicity has got older, she's learnt to embrace it and truly love her natural body.She said: "Listening to my grandma Sybil, now 92, I learned that my body was something to celebrate."As a size-6 woman, she’d say things like: 'Look at your lovely big boobs – I’ve always been flat-chested.'"It taught me from a young age that everyone wants what the other person has."Felicity went onto explain that, when.