Remi Bader estimates she went on her first diet at around 10 years old. The endless cycle “only got worse over time,” and she was diagnosed with binge eating disorder in 2019. So began an onslaught of mental, physical, and medical hurdles that brought her to where we are today. “I loved being curvy my whole life; I just did. It was who I was,” Bader says. So when her health issues came to a head, she felt like “it was a battle” with herself. “I will always believe that you could be a bigger size and be healthy and happy. I was for a while, that wasn’t a lie. But there was a point when it shifted, and I became really unhappy.” It is almost impossible to decide what is right for your body when everyone around you has an opinion on it—particularly when it comes to why, how, or whether to lose weight. How do you separate a desire for positive health outcomes—for feeling better—from the cultural and social insistence that the size of our bodies reflects our well-being, character, and worthiness? Bader grappled with this tension. She never just wanted to lose weight—and she certainly didn’t want to do it for anyone else. She was ready to get off the Ferris wheel: She wanted to feel better. But nothing could have prepared her for what was to come: a surgery, a breakup, a harrowing recovery process, and, ultimately, a sense of healing that brought her back to herself. Tap here to read Bader’s story: https://lnkd.in/erRt8UBb Photographer: Sofía Alvarez Stylist: Virginia Ray Hair: Jerome Cultrera Makeup: Natalie Lageyre Producer: Melissa Kramer Writer: Samhita Mukhopadhyay
