Fat. Fit? Flabulous!

By: Gabriela Hasbun
Submitted: 04/02/2010

At 30, I weighed 175 pounds, but I still felt fat when I looked at myself in the mirror. Deep down, I knew I wasn't unhealthy, and I knew I wasn't unattractive. But I still felt fat.

No one had ever told me that I could be happy, healthy and satisfied with my body regardless of how much I weighed. Like so many women and men, I fought a never-ending and toxic battle with my own body, trying to meet society's expectations of size, weight and beauty. Our culture is obsessed with thinness. Being thin is equated with being beautiful and healthy when actually you can be both beautiful and healthy without being thin.

FAT. FIT? FLABULOUS! is very important to me because it's my way of sharing with the world that no one should feel hopeless about their body or feel the despair that comes from a lifetime of unsuccessful dieting.This series of images examine how women view themselves. It focuses on those who are challenging common conceptions of health, beauty and individuality, a perspective on the issue that most of the media seems content to marginalize and ignore. I am committed to raising awareness about an issue that isn't understood: being fat, happy and healthy!

The project is inspired by the work of Bay Area fat activists at the center of a new civil rights movement called Health at Every Size. Thank you Marilyn Wann, Matilda St. John, Lady Monster, Jukie Sunshine, Candye Kane, The Padded Lilies and all the other Health at Every Size activists who have shown me and the rest of the world that you can love your body regardless of your size.