Teresa Alicbusan: I became healthy because I want a long life with my kids

I was really chubby as a teenager. Back then it didn’t bother me at all - no insecurities nothing, as I was very focused with my art. I became a mother at the young age of 21 - to a baby girl and a boy thee years later. My marriage failed and unexpectedly I was a single mum. Raising my children was my priority. I did not care about my body and not bothered with how I look. I gained lots of weight in my 30s and started to feel insecure. I was conscious of my body and couldn’t wear
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Cheryl Lynn Tay: I became a single teenage mother before I turned 15

I’ve got terrible stretch marks – so bad that I’m ashamed of it. I had them since I was a teenager and till today, I am not completely confident of it.  I was abused by my ex-boyfriend, naively believing that he didn't mean it. I ended up becoming a single teenage mother three months before my 15th birthday. Conception happened unwillingly. Tongues wagged and I was the topic of people's stories for years. The worst I faced was when a stranger walked past
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Evelyn Tham: Being worthy is my own birth right, no matter how my body look

I was a chubby kid growing up as I was pampered a lot by my maternal grandma. She was a great cook and her way of showing love was to feed me with really delicious food. On a typical weekend, I would have roast duck drumstick rice for lunch, her home-cooked food for dinner and cereal prawns for supper. It wasn’t surprising then as a primary school kid to weigh my heaviest at 54 to 56kg. Currently, I’m 154cm so imagine my height then – I was even shorter! There was a period
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Vanessa Ang: The birth of my daughter changed my mindset

I first felt insecure about my body when I was in primary school. I had to join my school’s Trim & Fit (TAF) club and at first, I didn’t know what it meant but my relatives did. They started saying ‘Oh you’re too fat’ and ‘You’re in it because you need to lose weight’. That was when I started being insecure about the way I looked and how much I weighed. The constant teasing from relatives really made me hate my body and the way I
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Cheryl Regina Lim: I've struggled with my body for a huge part of my life

I've struggled with my body for a huge part of my life. ‘Oh, but Cheryl you're so petite and tiny!’ – these are words that I always hear. I became more conscious of my size after my friends kept saying how little I am. I grew up not knowing how to truly love myself so when people started noticing my body, I started comparing my body with what I saw on television and in magazines – the society’s perception of an ‘ideal and acceptable’ body.
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