Bikini of Liberation

     I cannot remember a time when I did not think that my body was wrong. In 4th grade, I was the "fat" kid and began my life of bullies, eating disorders, and self hate. I pushed hard on the door that held my skeletons throughout high school and college: diet pills, binge eating, and bulimia. No one knew the mental beating I gave myself everyday for being "fat". Eventually I found myself at 300 pounds in my mid-twenties. I fought to save myself from feeling trapped in my body. I was living a life that was leading me to an early grave. I successfully lost 125 pounds with Weight Watchers and exercise. I have kept the weight off for seven years and in that time I have been anxiously waiting to finally love my body.  

     I have been waiting for the moment when I would no longer be embarrassed by my wiggles, jiggles, stretch marks, and wings. I have been waiting for seven years. When does that magical moment happen when I will no longer hate the skin I am in? It started to happen two years ago when I began my blog and opened up about my post weight loss frustrations. I could not have predicted the impact on my mental health this would have for me. It was life changing. 

     For the first time in my life I was learning about body positivity. I found other like minded people with the same desire to feel beautiful in their skin. Tess Holliday forever changed how I felt about my body. Her unwavering confidence inspired me to find my own empowerment in my body. I wanted to love myself; stand tall and be the woman the broken girl always hoped she would grow into. It has been a personal healing journey over the past two years. 

     I have set myself free from many beauty standards over the course of healing. I no longer workout only in black pants, I now have some of the loudest pants at the gym. Workout in color! I no longer subject myself to sweaters in summer to cover my arms. I wear shorts without fear or shame. Not only did I buy a bathing suit after having not owned one for over a decade, I wore it in public too! I am not the same woman. Self-love and confidence gave me the power to discover the amazing person the beauty industry beat down and kept down. I am a diet industry drop out! I run on self-love and self-care. 

     I had my biggest liberating moment over vacation this year. I wore a bikini. Yes!! I actually did it!! In public!! I was nervous; in truth I almost freaked out. My husband helped keep me in a positive mind frame and reminded me why I had this goal. I took a deep breath and dropped my cover to the ground. There I was...in my bikini...waiting for something to happen. And then, I felt it. Those butterflies in my stomach grew strong and I used them to fuel my inner badass. I turned those tiny wings in my stomach into wings of freedom out of my back.  Empowered! That is what I felt, the greatest feeling of empowerment and confidence I had ever experienced in my life! 

     Life is too short to constantly wait for self-love. Go out and grab it! Tell that ugly voice in your head to sit down and shut up, we only get one shot at this life and I am going to do it my way! Thank you to every person who encouraged me to kick down the walls of beauty standards. This moment was not just for me but also for every person who holds themselves back from giving themselves the happiness they seek. We are all beautiful right now!! 

I present my unphotoshopped liberating love myself moment in the sun! 

He's my favorite human. 

     

Taking On YouTube

I said I would and I did. 

Ta da...my very first YouTube video for New Figure Forward!!!!

Thank you for tuning in and checking me out. I will continue to post videos as often as I can. I made a list of all the topics you guys asked me to cover. I'll start checking them off! 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project: Samantha

Seen Through My Eyes: A Body Positive Photography Project

Beauty is not based on size, shape, measurements, or specific facial structures. Beauty is how we see the world around us; it is how we choose to see those around us. When we see this beauty, we can begin to recognize the beauty within ourselves.Through my camera I hope to inspire moments of feeling beautiful. I hope to capture soulful smiles and heartfelt giggles. I hope to capture confidence, apprehension, strength, weakness, sexiness, modesty, poise, and unruliness. I hope to capture the beauty of the woman in front of me, in all her unique glory. 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project is my way of giving back to those around me. I treat each portrait as art without the use of Photoshop to change my model. Our bodies are gloriously beautiful as they are, no editing needed. 

Meet Samantha. Samantha is a special model for me. Sam was once a student of mine. I have watched her grow from an adorable middle schooler into a confident college student. I knew I wanted her shoot to be extra special.  I want to give the gift of personal empowerment with every model that stands in front of my camera, and with Sam, it gave additional purpose to the shoot. The person who stood before me was not a little girl, but a young woman beginning her journey as an adult. At a pivotal time in a person's life, I had the opportunity to remind Sam that she is a strong, confident, beautiful woman and I took that opportunity very seriously. 

Samantha and I talked about how she feels about her body on our drive to our photo location. The transition from a girl’s body into a woman's body is mentally challenging. American culture idealizes the thin young body and because of this, anyone who doesn't wear the smaller single number pants sizes feels left out. That message was there when I was 19 and it is still there for current 19 year olds. Sam is a "normal" young lady, in a love/hate relationship with her body. We all are. Regardless of age we, as people, are always in a love/hate relationship with our bodies. Wanting to be perfect and learning to forgive ourselves for not being perfect. Let us remember there is no "perfect" body. 

 Then there is that one thing we wish we could change about ourselves. We all have something. Our “this or that” would be better if they were “this way or that way”. For Sam, it is her hair she wishes was different. Her thick luxurious curly locks are not her favorite feature. They can be unruly and difficult to tame. I adore her hair and made it my mission to highlight it in her shoot. I am in love with results!

This will always be a special shoot for me. To have had the opportunity to photograph a young lady I watched grow up with the purpose of inspiring her to love herself now; that was the greatest gift I could receive. I am honored to be trusted to capture these empowered moments. Sam, you are a natural in front of the camera. Thank you for being a part of my body positive photo project. You will inspire others to embrace their "new" bodies with confidence and pride. 

To the young girls becoming women and finding themselves in changing bodies, this one is for you...

Thank you Sam for participating in my photo project! Your confidence is contagious. 

In your empowered moment you will set other young women free to feel empowered in their beauty. 

Thank you for trusting me to photograph you with love and care. 

If you are in the Las Vegas area and would like to participate in Simply Extraordinary please contact me via email at Alyson@newfigureforward.com. Let me treat you like a model for an hour! 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project: Liz

Seen Through My Eyes: A Body Positive Photography Project

Beauty is not based on size, shape, measurements, or specific facial structures. Beauty is how we see the world around us; it is how we choose to see those around us. When we see this beauty, we can begin to recognize the beauty within ourselves. Through my camera I hope to inspire moments of feeling beautiful. I hope to capture soulful smiles and heartfelt giggles. I hope to capture confidence, apprehension, strength, weakness, sexiness, modesty, poise, and unruliness. I hope to capture the beauty of the woman in front of me, in all her unique glory. 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project is my way of giving back to those around me. I treat each portrait as art without the use of Photoshop to change my model. Our bodies are gloriously beautiful as they are, no editing needed. 

Meet Liz. I have known Liz for 8 years. She has a passion for dance and movement and finds her power within her own physical strength and abilities. Her body, like her spirit, thrives on music and movement. Liz let me into her world of beats, rhythm, and harmony between body and mind, and the results are gorgeous photos!  She has a calm peace about her that pops out of these images. 

My time photographing Liz was beautiful. She not only showcased her physical strength with elegance, she also shared her struggles with body image. The desire to be perfect is within all of us, having been brainwashed to believe we are only worthy to love ourselves at a certain size or weight. I sat across from an incredibly beautiful woman, someone to whom many of us is the ideal body image, and I realized she is human too. She struggles with appreciating her beauty, like so many us do. My goal became to capture her essence through my camera, to show her beauty, her inner peace, and her contagious sense of happiness.  

For every woman that sets herself free from her own insecurities, another woman is free as well.  Together we can give each other permission to just be as we are, right now. Live life with passion and purpose and kick society's beauty standards to the curb.  Thank you, Liz, for trusting me to capture your unique beauty.

Thank you Liz for participating in my photo project! You radiate peace and strength. In your empowered moment you will set other women free to feel empowered in their beauty. 

Thank you for trusting me to photograph you with love and care. 

If you are in the Las Vegas area and would like to participate in Simply Extraordinary please contact me via email at Alyson@newfigureforward.com. Let me treat you like a model for an hour! 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project: Jacie

Seen Through My Eyes: A Body Positive Photography Project

Beauty is not based on size, shape, measurements, or specific facial structures. Beauty is how we see the world around us; it is how we choose to see those around us. When we see this beauty, we can begin to recognize the beauty within ourselves. Through my camera I hope to inspire moments of feeling beautiful. I hope to capture soulful smiles and heartfelt giggles. I hope to capture confidence, apprehension, strength, weakness, sexiness, modesty, poise, and unruliness. I hope to capture the beauty of the woman in front of me, in all her unique glory. 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project is my way of giving back to those around me. I treat each portrait as art without the use of Photoshop to change my model. Our bodies are gloriously beautiful as they are, no editing needed. 

Meet Jacie. She is a friend I made at the gym. Jacie and I met at a local coffee shop before the photo shoot so we could spend a few minutes getting to know each other better. I sat across from an incredibly strong woman. A woman who has things to do for those around her that only she can do. Jacie radiates patience. She has a fantastic laugh.  

I had a blast shooting Jacie at a local park. I watched her blossom in front of my lense. Jacie told me after the shoot she was thankful she didn't cancel on me; she had fun working with me. Soon into the shoot she forgot to think about her bra strap or her pose and she just let herself be for an hour. We had talked about how she hides in pictures or is taking them. She explained how a full body shot made her uncomfortable but that she was willing to let me do it. It is clear to see that Jacie oozes confidence in her shots and she is not hiding behind anything. 

I enjoyed every minute of working with Jacie. Her photos are gorgeous, they just pop!    

Thank you Jacie for participating in my photo project! You radiate confidence and strength. In your empowered moment you will set other women free from hiding in or from pictures. Thank you for trusting me to photograph you with love and care. 

If you are in the Las Vegas area and would like to participate in Simply Extraordinary please contact me via email at Alyson@newfigureforward.com. Let me treat you like a model for an hour! 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project: MarCia

Seen Through My Eyes: A Body Positive Photography Project

Beauty is not based on size, shape, measurements, or specific facial structures. Beauty is how we see the world around us; it is how we choose to see those around us. When we see this beauty, we can begin to recognize the beauty within ourselves. Through my camera I hope to inspire moments of feeling beautiful. I hope to capture soulful smiles and heartfelt giggles. I hope to capture confidence, apprehension, strength, weakness, sexiness, modesty, poise, and unruliness. I hope to capture the beauty of the woman in front of me, in all her unique glory. 

Simply Extraordinary Photo Project is my way of giving back to those around me. I treat each portrait as art without the use of Photoshop to change my model. Our bodies are gloriously beautiful as they are, no editing needed. 

Meet MarCia. She is a friend I made at the gym. I have watch her on her journey to find her healthy and she is inspiring. Always full of laughs and encouraging words, I look forward to my classes with her. I am honored to not only have captured her bright light for life but to have also gotten to know her better on a personal level. 

If you are in the Las Vegas area and would like to participate in Simply Extraordinary please contact me via email at Alyson@newfigureforward.com. Let me treat you like a model for an hour or two! 

Seen Through My Eyes: A Body Positive Photography Project

     I love art. I am an artist. I write. I draw. I paint. I craft. I take pictures. That last one, take pictures, is my favorite. I wanted a way to combine my passion for body positivity and my camera lens.  Armed with my list of wants: I want a way to impact women around me, I want to pass along a feeling of empowerment and personal pride, I want to give an hour or two of my time to make someone feel like art, I started dreaming and that dream has been brought to fruition, I have officially begun my photography project entitled Simply Extraordinary.

     Simply Extraordinary is the idea, the spark, that ignited the artist in me. I, myself, am tired of seeing over-Photoshopped models. These visual lies that only perpetuate one type of beauty, skinny and flawless. Enough! This time I am taking matters into my own hands, I am creating art without erasing the human. I don't believe in flawless. I don't believe in perfection. I do believe in us empowering each other to feel incredible in our bodies. I do not use Photoshop for the purpose of erasing the natural human body. I use Photoshop to enhance the photo into my artistic vision. 

     Beauty is not based on size, shape, measurements, or specific facial structures. Beauty is how we see the world around us; it is how we choose to see those around us. When we see this beauty, we can begin to recognize the beauty within ourselves. Through my camera I hope to inspire moments of feeling beautiful. I hope to capture soulful smiles and heartfelt giggles. I hope to capture confidence, apprehension, strength, weakness, sexiness, modesty, poise, and unruliness. I hope to capture the beauty of the woman in front of me, in all her unique glory. 

I am proud to present my first model for Simply Extraordinary....
I am honored to begin this photographic journey with a great friend. 
Jacki, thank you for the laugher and lesson on power pose! 

If you are in the Las Vegas area and would like to participate in Simply Extraordinary please contact me via email at Alyson@newfigureforward.com. Let me treat you like a model for an hour or two!