Kiss 100’s Linda Nyangweso has been on the receiving end of hateful body shaming comments over her body size for a mighty long time.
But before she was a public figure she was already grappling with insecurities about her body to a point that she wouldn’t eat in public for fear that people would think that that is all she did.
The fact that she went to an artsy school where being skinny, limber and blonde was the norm didn’t make things easier as she was short and plus size.
In an episode of the ‘Legally Clueless’ podcast, she noted that a lot of women experience insecurities and aren’t completely happy with their bodies.
“The truth is I feel like every woman is insecure right? I have always had body insecurity issues because I just don’t look like the other girls who I am told are supposed to be the beautiful ones, it’s hard to be a plus sized girl. I went to an artsy school where everyone was limber, skinny and blonde and then I joined an industry where beauty is more marketable than anything. It has been an ongoing insecurity. I used to hate taking pictures because it was evident that I was very different. I was not only super short, I was also super fat and so you kind of standout standing next to these tall Amazonian girls around you,” Linda confessed.
At some point, Linda had to let go of her insecurities and live because she realized that her insecurities were preventing her from living the life she deserves.“I had to stop that because I like who I am, I deserve to take up space. I constantly feel like I have to apologize for existing because I didn’t look like what you think I should look like. I stopped feeling that way when I realized that if I’m constantly apologizing for existing I am not actually living.”
Making a change in the way she viewed herself involved pampering herself, dressing in whatever clothes she likes and not those that ‘flatter her body type’ and eating. Linda confessed that he could eat in public because she felt that that people thought that that’s all she did.
“I eat and I don’t feel shame about it, I used to feel a lot of shame about eating especially in public because I always felt that when people see me eat they think I am constantly eating. I stopped eating in public, I never ate is school because I was afraid people assumed that is all I am doing anyway. These days I am shameless about that. I can say I am hungry and I don’t feel like that makes me look fatter,” Linda said.