High school teacher defends 'perfectly healthy belly' after being asked if she’s pregnant

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·2 min read

A high school teacher in Australia gave a lengthy response that called out body-shaming after an Instagram user "completely inappropriately" asked if she was pregnant.

Katie Lolas, 32, lives in Sydney, where she also runs a health and fitness blog as well as a healthy living Instagram page.

Lolas uses that account, which has more than 160,000 followers to post fitness tips, meal prep ideas and general life updates. But this weekend, she also used it to respond to a "rude" social media user who apparently asked if she was pregnant.

"Asking a woman if she's pregnant isn't nice," her Instagram post begins. "I know most people mean well, but it's completely inappropriate. Pointing out what you might perceive as a 'baby bump' is not cool. It's actually quite rude."

View this post on Instagram

Asking a woman if she’s pregnant isn’t nice. I know most people mean well, but it’s completely inappropriate. Pointing out what you might perceive as a ‘baby bump’ is not cool. It’s actually quite rude. Asking a couple when they want to have children should also be off limits. It’s not like they can click their fingers and make a baby appear. This topic is deeply personal and loaded for most couples and quite frankly it’s none of your business 🤷🏽‍♀️. Please don’t ask. Anyone. Ever. This is my body. It looks different depending on what I’m wearing. What angle a photo is taken. I have lumps, bumps and everything in between. FYI I’m not pregnant. This is what a perfectly healthy belly looks like. I’ll let you know in my own time when it happens for us ❤️

A post shared by Katie Lolas (@lady.lolas) on Oct 25, 2019 at 3:26pm PDT

The post included multiple photos of Lolas's stomach, which she showed followers from a number of different angles.

"This is my body. It looks different depending on what I’m wearing. What angle a photo is taken. I have lumps, bumps and everything in between," the post continues.

Lolas, who has been vocal about body image on her blog and Instagram page, ended the post by telling followers she is not pregnant and that "This is what a perfectly healthy belly looks like."

The photos have garnered thousands of likes and comments in the three days since Lolas's post, with many people sharing their support or experience with similar questions.

"Such an important message, aren’t we supposed to lift each other up," one user commented.

"I just had a stranger at a store ask me that 2 days ago! I seriously told her, 'I'm just bloated and I feel like crap so, thanks for that one' and I walked away," another person wrote.

The description on Lolas's blog also touches on the subject, with the teacher sharing that she is "the heaviest I've been in my life," adding that she feels secure in her self-image.

"I no longer define my health or my worth by a number on the scale," the description reads. "I don't count calories, and I don't allow my weight or dress size to dictate how I feel about myself."