A mother-of-two has become an Instagram star with candid posts revealing how her daughters taught her to love her post-baby body.
Lisa Wilson, 28, from Green Rapids, Michigan, initially struggled to accept the ‘stretch marks, cellulite and squishy tummy’ that she was left with after giving birth to five-year-old Brielle and Vienna, three.
When her daughters ‘poked’ and ‘kneaded’ the ‘saggy areas’, Lisa grew self-conscious and would try to hide her figure beneath high-waisted clothes.
However she later learnt to embrace her figure because she wanted to set a positive example for her daughters – and her empowering message has won her more than 17,000 Instagram followers.
Lisa Wilson, 28, from Green Rapids, Michigan, has won thousands of Instagram followers with her body positive posts. In the caption for this image, the mother-of-two wrote that she realised she needed to set a good example for daughters Brielle, five, right, and Vienna, three
The mother-of-two initially struggled to accept the ‘stretch marks, cellulite and squishy tummy’ she was left with following the birth of her daughters, pictured kissing her stomach
One image shows Lisa and her daughters sitting on the sofa wearing matching bikinis. The mother-of-two revealed it’s her favourite post to date.
The caption read: ‘One day a few years ago my daughter was squeezing my stomach saying squishy tummy and proceeding to knead my stomach like pizza dough.
‘At the time I told her to stop she asked why I said I just don’t like it. Thinking to myself that it made me self conscious.
‘I got to thinking you know what how am I supposed to expect my girls to embrace their squishy tummies if I can’t love mine. So I decided to. Now we all love our squishy tummies.’
The message struck a chord with hundreds of other mothers. One posted: ‘Had a similar situation last night. Thank you for this. I will do my best to never react as I did with my daughter again. I don’t want to teach her body shaming or insecurity.’
Lisa celebrates her stomach by decorating it with glitter – and gave Brielle a matching heart
Lisa encourages mothers to embrace the beauty of a body that has grown their children
Another added: ‘I appreciate this so much, thank you for making squishy tummies less taboo, and helping me on my journey to love mine.’
A third fan gushed: ‘You are a great role model for your children and others. Keep spreading the message!’
Lisa regularly flaunts her figure in underwear and swimwear snaps, encouraging other mothers to celebrate their natural beauty.
Lisa, who works at YMCA, said: ‘I chose to be proud of it and embrace the belly that grew to fit them inside. As a society we think of it as a bad thing, we shouldn’t look at it in that way.
‘I knew I needed to look at the stretch marks on my stomach with pride instead of with disdain and anger, from then on I started taking more pictures with them showing.
Lisa, pictured on her birthday, celebrates her figure in underwear and swimsuit shots
The 28-year-old, pictured while pregnant with eldest daughter Brielle in December 2011
Daughter Brielle, now five, kisses her mother’s belly while she was pregnant with Vienna, three
‘I also wanted to show you can still be sexy as a mom, you can have flaws and insecurities because it’s real and authentic.
‘So I put myself and my stretchmarks out there for the world to see, which has also been a way for me to accept it myself.
‘Now I see my stomach in a different light, instead of considering it as ugly skin and my ruined tummy, I see it as what gave me my two beautiful daughters.’
Lisa’s first post in April last year, attracted over 1,000 likes on Instagram when she spoke about defying other people’s perception of ‘beauty’ in favour of showing how a real woman looks.
Lisa once saw her ‘saggy’ stomach as ‘ugly’ but says she now sees it in a ‘different light’
The mother-of-two used to hide her stomach but now proudly shows it off in bikinis, pictured
She celebrated the ‘stretchmarks, cellulite, squishy tummies’ and ‘new generation of women’ she hopes to inspire that can embrace and love themselves.
Lisa said: ‘When I started the page I had a lot of insecurities, I used to miss my old tummy before it has marks on it and a round belly button.
‘I had to come to terms with that being gone and learn that to love the body I have now, I needed to appreciate that my body is not any less valuable now.
‘I want my girls to grow-up seeing different types of people and body types, for them to know they are beautiful for their differences and qualities like being kind, brave and more.
‘It’s been well received, I had messages from one person who told me that since seeing how proud I was with my body shape, she is also learning to love herself too.’
The YMCA worker said she ‘mourned’ the loss of her ’round belly button’, pictured now
Lisa receives dozens of comments from mothers on their own journeys to love their bodies