Author: admin

It was sometime in her teenage years when she was signed to a modeling agency that Claire Jedrek struggled with her body. “I remember bumping in my agency boss after not seeing her for a few months and she said, ” Oh you’ve lost some weight, call me.” To be honest, being thin was a requirement and she was just seeing it from a business view, but it made me criticise what I was born with,” recalled the 38-year-old presenter, co-owner of The Film Dispensary and mother of two.

“I used to get affected by other people’s comments. I don’t think I had ever received so many comments – comments about having an hourglass body, being buck toothed, thick hands and feet and calves. I never noticed any of this until someone would point it out.

“I remember being bulimic because of anxiety. I was dating someone and his sister-in-law would gang up with her friends and bully me for no reason. That would make me feel sick to my gut walking into the same house as her. So I would get really drunk or would make myself sick. Then I also used to cut myself to stop myself feeling angry. Strange to think that I did it, but you do silly things when you’re young.”

As Claire got older, she definitely cared a lot less of other people’s opinions.

“I remember when I got older and was far more independent earning a little bit more. I had just had my heart broken and I moved back to Singapore from overseas and something changed in me. I realised how I saw the world was entirely up to me. I had a new opportunity to start life again at 30 and not everyone had that chance and I had to live life exactly as it was, with one chance.

“I honestly don’t care as much as before. I know how hard I work out, what I eat is entirely up to me and I don’t take myself too seriously. I have two young kids and if it’s one thing I want them to feel and act like children and feel uninhabited as long as possible.”

After becoming a mother, Claire is now kinder to her mental being and body because it’s done such an amazing thing by growing two kids – it’s the coolest thing ever, she added.

*This is a collaboration between Rock The Naked Truth and Our Bralette Club.

Vanessa Ang, 22, mother of one, was only 11 when she started to struggle with her body. She had to join her school’s TAF Club and over the years, her body image struggles got worse.

“The worst period was during my secondary school years when I fell into depression. I always hated the way I looked – the shape of my face, my flabby arms, round tummy, thick thighs, small boobs; I was insecure about almost everything about me and I would keep beating myself up about it,” she said.

“I lost a lot of weight in Secondary 2, and that was when I was at my lightest and slimmest. Because of that, friends and people closest to me would compare me now to me then, often asking,“When will you be that skinny again?” “When are you going to start running again?” “When will you start losing weight?” ”

Social media worsened her struggles and Vanessa felt more and more insecure. “There are lots of people posting beautiful pictures with their amazing bodies so I ended up comparing myself to them and feeling bad about myself because I didn’t look like them.”

It was only when she gave birth to her daughter in 2018 that she started to look at herself differently. “I’m starting to appreciate and be thankful for my body now. I don’t need to be skinny to be loved. My life before getting pregnant was very messy – I was always out with friends till late at night; I smoked, drank a lot, skipped classes, changed courses, and eventually dropped out from polytechnic.

“So when i got pregnant, I realised I had to become responsible. I stopped drinking, smoking, ate well, slept well. I started looking after myself so my baby could grow well. Having a baby made me grow up and I will always be thankful for my daughter.

“Becoming a mother has taught me that I am loved no matter what size I become. My body made this precious child. These stretch marks show that I carried this baby and gave birth to her, these boobs fed her, kept her full and healthy. I shouldn’t be insecure or ashamed for having stretch marks and small and saggy boobs as long as I am healthy enough to look after my family.

“I hope that every woman out there will never be ashamed of their body and embrace it. I never want my daughter to ever feel insecure about herself when she grows up, so I have to show her that I love myself too.

“I used to shy away from lingerie because i thought only women with the ‘perfect’ body could wear them and that I would look ridiculous wearing lingerie. But now wearing lingerie sometimes makes me feel beautiful and powerful, even when my fats are out and visible.”