A hairdresser has taken to social media to share her acceptance of her "bikini body”, as she uploaded clips of herself “having the best time ever” at the beach, while proudly celebrating her curves.
Ashley Romano, from Hollywood, Florida, uploaded videos of herself to TikTok as she spent time at a pool party and at the beach, admitting that she didn’t want to miss out on life because of her weight.
The hairdresser opened up about “choosing” to have fun following her struggles with her appearance.
She admitted that she didn’t used to feel confident enough to wear revealing swimwear but has decided to stop caring about her looks and enjoy life more.
In one video she uploaded to TikTok, Ashley could be seen dancing at a pool party, as she wore a pink two-piece swimsuit.
In another, she posed at her local beach, wearing a black bikini top with a pair of floral bottoms.
Ashley wore her hair up in a topknot and accessorised with a pale pink pair of sunglasses.
In the clip, she slapped her stomach and sported a huge smile, lip-synching to a voiceover that said: “Now this is a bikini body! I'm ready to go p*** off people at the beach.”
She also uploaded another video of herself with some friends at a pool party, with the caption: “Three big girls walk into a pool party... And have the best time ever.”
Ashley added an additional caption to the video, musing about how her perception of her body has changed over the years.
She wrote: “Can't help but think about when I was 120lbs lighter and went to a nighttime pool party and wore a cover up because I didn't think my body looked good enough.
“Also can't help but think about less than a year ago when I went to a bar and had to leave 15 mins later because all the people and loud music gave me a panic attack.”
“At this party there were lots of people, lots of ‘perfect’ bikini bodies and the music was loud AF and I had so much fun.”
She went on to admit that the experience had been out of her comfort zone, writing: “I also had to choose not to care what anyone's opinion of me, my body or my lovely dancing skills were.
“Every time I got out of the pool, every time I felt like someone was looking at me, and every time I caught myself comparing (the killer of all joy) I want to be okay with my body.
“I don't want to hide. I don't want to miss out on social events. I don't want to miss out on life.”
