Plus-Sized and Loving It!

This is something Miss Plus Size Namibia Loide Kleopas knows all too well.The student teacher from Walvis Bay recently shared her story with The Weekender, hoping to motivate all women to love themselves unconditionally.As Miss Plus Size Namibia, Kleopas says she wants to educate people about weight stigma and make everyone more aware of the beauty they hold within themselves.“The stares, the glares, the undeniably terrifying feeling that everyone is silently judging you for the way you look. In a world that tells you skinny is the only form of beauty, you feel less than, but I'm a plus-sized woman and I love it,” says the 22-year-old model.Despite coming to a place of self-acceptance, Kleopas says she was body shamed for her weight and size throughout her life.“Growing up as a fat child, body shaming broke me down. I was called all sorts of names because of my size and shape. Negative comments were constantly made, and this affected me so badly.”Kleopas says people should know that not every plus-sized person is fat due to overeating and they must stop telling people to lose weight, because genetics often play a role.Kleopas says she hated herself because of her weight and tried all she could to make society accept and love her. Eventually, after years of trying to 'fix' her body, she realised it was never broken to begin with.“I wanted to lose weight so badly and tried so many things, but nothing worked. The main reasons nothing worked were both my eagerness and inconsistency. I would try a product for one week and if it didn't work, I go on to the next one. I became so bitter that I couldn't even show a smile to anyone. I could literally be angry at people for no reason other than them approaching me or wanting to talk to me.”She slowly started gaining confidence and focusing on body positivity in 2016 after discovering plus-sized South African model and influencer Thick Leeyonce on social media.“I was inspired. She posted a lot of her pictures along with body positive quotes and through them I learned how to be comfortable in my own skin. She gave me that vibe of just feeling myself and accepting myself for who I am. I started loving my body with all its flaws.“I also realised that by being bitter and angry all the time, I was only hurting myself and it wasn't going to change a thing.”Today Kleopas advises women to be kind to themselves and ignore all the negative comments.“Don't ever let other people define you. In life I have learned that it's best to distance yourself from negative people and only keep the positive ones around you,” she says.Despite all the disappointments and rejections she's experienced, today Kleopas is a confident and ambitious woman. She urges people to stop projecting negative things onto themselves and to simply love themselves.“It's not fair that you want people to love you but you can't love yourself. Be you and do you for you. Learn about yourself, set boundaries and standards for yourself. Work on yourself, improve yourself but know that you are a beautiful person.”

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