Danielle Brooks—the actress you probably know as the lovable Taystee on Orange Is the New Black—might not have appreciated her body when she was younger, but she’s making up for lost time by spreading her body-positive vibes now.
The actress recently opened up about body image and made clear that while it’s important that she love herself on the outside, her outlook is more than skin-deep.
“I realized the only way I’m going to be happy is by servicing my body in a way that is healthy.”
“For the longest time, I have put myself down and criticized my body for having extra curves and love handles and thick thighs,” she told Self.
And now that she’s learned how to respect and love her body, she’s more careful about how she treats it. “If I’m putting poison into my body, I’m not going to live. That’s not only with what we eat and how much we work out, but with what we’re saying to ourselves. I realized the only way I’m going to be happy is by servicing my body in a way that is healthy.”
And that’s exactly why Brooks loves getting her sweat on with trainer Morit Summers, whose plus-size physique she finds to be a source of inspiration.
“I love working with her because when she’s trying to teach me something, I can see it on her body, and it looks the same on my body,” she said. “When you see yourself reflected, you believe in yourself…I think people underestimate bigger bodies, and what we’re capable of doing.”
This powerful documentary wants you to rethink what having a “good body” means. And Jennifer Aniston is also on board with body-positivity, putting body-shaming “bump-watchers” on blast.
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