"I fell in love with my body aged 27 – I didn’t want my children thinking they weren’t beautiful because of me"
- 5 months ago
A mum who hated her own body from the aged of eight has finally fallen in love with herself - because she wants her children to know they are also beautiful.
Reagan Walker, 30, grew up hating her body after seeing her own mum, 56, criticize herself and her own looks.
The mum-of-two struggled with eating disorders and avoided going out because of how she felt about her body.
She was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome – a condition which affects how the ovaries work - aged 16 which spiralled her “hatred” for her body.
After graduating college and meeting her now husband, Brandon Walker, 31, a real estate investor, Reagan decided to go to therapy - realising she didn’t want her future children to grow up seeing her tearing herself apart.
Now after giving birth to her children – Theo, two, and Tatum, one – Reagan has fallen in love with her own body.
But she is not alone, a study found 16 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 love their bodies and only four per cent of us have never worried about our looks, according to research from Kic.
Reagan, a marketer, Austin, Texas, said: “I didn’t want them seeing me tearing myself apart.
“If I had a daughter – I wanted her to know matter what her body was she was beautiful.
“I didn’t want her to learn that she wasn’t beautiful from me.
“I love my body – it’s not perfect but I’m raising two babies, and have a career and a side hustle.
“I love my curves – I’m so grateful for them.”
Reagan grew up seeing magazines depicting the ‘perfect’ female body and being told to lose weight despite being a healthy child.
She said: “My mum was always trying a new diet.
“Looking in the mirror she was always unhappy about what she saw.
“It created a hatred for myself.
“As I got older I developed that habit. I only said negative stuff about myself.
“I was worried about my weight as an eight year old.
“I wasn’t skinny, but a normal kid.”
In high school, Reagan would feel so self-conscious about her body she would sometimes avoid going out.
She said: “I have curves – I hated that as a kid.
“I was feeling so much shame.
“I remember getting ready for an event and going through ten outfits. The voice in my head won and I stayed home."
Reagan suffered a lot of disordered eating – going through periods of starving and binging – and her relationship with he body got worse when she was diagnosed with PSCOS aged 16.
She said: “It was a really difficult time.
“I felt I would never be loved, couldn’t have kids – who would want that?”
In college, Reagan was able to “live her life” and have “fun” and worried less about her weight.
She said: “It was the first time I wasn’t worried about how I looked.
“But I gained 30lbs.
“One day I looked in the mirror and I didn’t recognise myself.
“All the emotions came back and I hated everything about myself.”
Reagan met Brandon, and had thought about starting a family but realised she didn’t want to get pregnant until she had a positive relationship with her body.
She said: “I went to therapy.
“I thought about why I wanted to change my body – and it couldn’t just be because I wanted to look cute in a bikini.”
Reagan had health coaching and started eating for her body.
She said: “I changed how I was talking to my body.
“I would make myself say three nice things about myself every morning when I was ready – they could be I like my smile and I’m kind. Not just physical.
“I started noticing what I loved about myself.”
Reagan feels she finally fell in love with her body aged 27 and then felt ready to try for a baby – welcoming Theo in March 2021 and Tatum in August 2022.
She said: “I focused on how amazing my body was because it was growing a human – rather than any negativity about my body changes.”
Reagan is now a US size four to six and feels confident about her body.
She said: “I love my smile – I can tell I’m truly happy.
“I have a booty and my husband loves it.
“My stomach - there’s stretch marks but it’s where my babies grew, it’s a vessel of life.”
Reagan is instilling body positivity with her son’s from a young age – and gets them to practice saying nice things about themselves in the mirror.
She said: “I want to eliminate that stress in their life.
"I didn’t want to have kids before I healed as I didn’t want to pass on my trauma.
"I don't think there is a specific body type that's perfect."
Reagan Walker, 30, grew up hating her body after seeing her own mum, 56, criticize herself and her own looks.
The mum-of-two struggled with eating disorders and avoided going out because of how she felt about her body.
She was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome – a condition which affects how the ovaries work - aged 16 which spiralled her “hatred” for her body.
After graduating college and meeting her now husband, Brandon Walker, 31, a real estate investor, Reagan decided to go to therapy - realising she didn’t want her future children to grow up seeing her tearing herself apart.
Now after giving birth to her children – Theo, two, and Tatum, one – Reagan has fallen in love with her own body.
But she is not alone, a study found 16 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 love their bodies and only four per cent of us have never worried about our looks, according to research from Kic.
Reagan, a marketer, Austin, Texas, said: “I didn’t want them seeing me tearing myself apart.
“If I had a daughter – I wanted her to know matter what her body was she was beautiful.
“I didn’t want her to learn that she wasn’t beautiful from me.
“I love my body – it’s not perfect but I’m raising two babies, and have a career and a side hustle.
“I love my curves – I’m so grateful for them.”
Reagan grew up seeing magazines depicting the ‘perfect’ female body and being told to lose weight despite being a healthy child.
She said: “My mum was always trying a new diet.
“Looking in the mirror she was always unhappy about what she saw.
“It created a hatred for myself.
“As I got older I developed that habit. I only said negative stuff about myself.
“I was worried about my weight as an eight year old.
“I wasn’t skinny, but a normal kid.”
In high school, Reagan would feel so self-conscious about her body she would sometimes avoid going out.
She said: “I have curves – I hated that as a kid.
“I was feeling so much shame.
“I remember getting ready for an event and going through ten outfits. The voice in my head won and I stayed home."
Reagan suffered a lot of disordered eating – going through periods of starving and binging – and her relationship with he body got worse when she was diagnosed with PSCOS aged 16.
She said: “It was a really difficult time.
“I felt I would never be loved, couldn’t have kids – who would want that?”
In college, Reagan was able to “live her life” and have “fun” and worried less about her weight.
She said: “It was the first time I wasn’t worried about how I looked.
“But I gained 30lbs.
“One day I looked in the mirror and I didn’t recognise myself.
“All the emotions came back and I hated everything about myself.”
Reagan met Brandon, and had thought about starting a family but realised she didn’t want to get pregnant until she had a positive relationship with her body.
She said: “I went to therapy.
“I thought about why I wanted to change my body – and it couldn’t just be because I wanted to look cute in a bikini.”
Reagan had health coaching and started eating for her body.
She said: “I changed how I was talking to my body.
“I would make myself say three nice things about myself every morning when I was ready – they could be I like my smile and I’m kind. Not just physical.
“I started noticing what I loved about myself.”
Reagan feels she finally fell in love with her body aged 27 and then felt ready to try for a baby – welcoming Theo in March 2021 and Tatum in August 2022.
She said: “I focused on how amazing my body was because it was growing a human – rather than any negativity about my body changes.”
Reagan is now a US size four to six and feels confident about her body.
She said: “I love my smile – I can tell I’m truly happy.
“I have a booty and my husband loves it.
“My stomach - there’s stretch marks but it’s where my babies grew, it’s a vessel of life.”
Reagan is instilling body positivity with her son’s from a young age – and gets them to practice saying nice things about themselves in the mirror.
She said: “I want to eliminate that stress in their life.
"I didn’t want to have kids before I healed as I didn’t want to pass on my trauma.
"I don't think there is a specific body type that's perfect."