Mom becomes an Instagram star after daughters teach her to love her stretch marks

A mother of two has become a body-positive Instagram star after revealing how her daughters taught her to love her post-baby body.

Lisa Wilson, 28, from Michigan, was struggling to accept stretch marks, cellulite, and a “squishy tummy” after giving birth to daughters Brielle, 5, and Vienna, 3. But after reconsidering her embarrassment, she decided that instead of hiding the changes to her body that childbirth had left her with, she should celebrate it.

So Wilson started sharing images of her new body to set a positive example for her children and encourage other mothers to embrace their post-baby bodies.

Her body-positive message has won her an army of fans.

Now the mom, who has more than 17,700 followers, uses her Instagram account to spread a little body positivity by posting images revealing her stomach in lingerie, swimwear, or covered in glitter to urge other women to embrace their natural beauty.

“I am fighting to change the conversation,” she wrote in one inspiring post alongside an image of her and her daughters. “I am fighting so my daughters never question their worth because their best friend is smaller and thinner than them.”

She continued: “I fight so that the diversity in the media changes, that different body types are represented, so that their black friends are represented, so that their friends with disabilities are represented, so that their transgender/non binary friends are represented.”

“I fight because the world is full of beautiful women and men who have been convinced they are not. Fight with me.”

Wilson, who works at a YMCA, said: “My daughters both had a fascination with the stretch marks and loose skin on my tummy. I just saw it as a fat and didn’t like it. I felt really self-conscious when they were poking it; I thought it was something weird.”

“But after I had some time to think, I realized it was a bad message that I was sending to my daughters by being embarrassed of how my stomach looks from carrying them,” said Wilson.

“I chose to be proud of it and embrace the belly that grew to fit them inside. As a society we think of it as a bad thing — we shouldn’t look at it in that way,” she explained. “I knew I needed to look at the stretch marks on my stomach with pride instead of with disdain and anger. From then onwards, I started taking more pictures with them showing.”

Wilson also wants to prove to other moms that just because you have given birth doesn’t mean you can’t look and feel sexy.

“I also wanted to show you can still be sexy as a mum; you can have flaws and insecurities, because it’s real and authentic. So I put myself and my stretch marks out there for the world to see, which has also been a way for me to accept it myself.”

She admits she previously hid her post-baby body under high-waisted clothing, but said now she’s happy to show the world the real self, “flaws” and all.

“Now I see my stomach in a different light,” she said. “Instead of considering it as ugly skin and my ruined tummy, I see it as what gave me my two beautiful daughters.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Aerie model opens up about ‘bacne’ and ‘lines of love’

• Mom celebrates her stretch marks with post-baby lingerie photo shoot

• Mom Shares Photo of Postpartum Belly: ‘There’s Nothing Wrong With It’

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.