Kathleen Kamphausen

Candice Huffine, 30, has been a plus-size model since she signed her first modeling contract at age 15. She moved from Bowie, Maryland, to New York City right after high school to pursue her career. Since then, she's traveled from England to Sweden and Morocco for work. She's been featured on the cover of Italian Vogue, in V Magazine, and in the 2015 Pirelli Calendar, among many other publications. She's currently working with H&M and carved some time to talk to Cosmopolitan.com about her career and awesome attitude.

What was the first time modeling entered your mind?

Gosh, I have no idea. When I was a kid, I just thought I was adorable, and I always wanted to pose. I wanted to have other people look at my poses, and I wanted a bunch of photos taken of me. I know it sounds so vain, but it was really fun and I loved it.

Certain kids grow up without very much confidence and certain kids just, like, have it. Where do you think your confidence came from?

I think it stemmed from my upbringing at home and my mom. We never discussed size or beauty in a way that, like, you shouldn't feel so proud of yourself or you should feel more proud of yourself or whatever. She told me that I was beautiful and that I could do whatever I wanted to, and if my weight fluctuated — and it certainly did — I didn't get flack for that.

Were you overweight as a child?

I went through a stage where my body was trying to figure itself out and I was growing in one direction before I was growing in another direction. And that's fine, it happens. My mom didn't put me on a diet; she didn't tell me that I needed to make all these drastic changes. The body changes. We just always went with the flow.

When you got into modeling, did you feel like there was special scrutiny on your body?

No, not at all. I was 15 and a size 8, probably because I was tall. But I was signed as a plus model immediately. I didn't even know that plus modeling existed, so I needed them to explain to me what that was: Another division set up for girls who weren't a sample size. To tell a 15-year-old she's plus-size is extremely confusing — especially for me because I was a cheerleader, and I thought I had this, like, very slim, trim body. I didn't realize this label existed in the modeling world or that I would be tagged with it. But I thought it was great that I could be exactly what I wanted (a model), and I didn't have to change. I got work immediately.

It's amazing that being labeled didn't affect you. Many women are torn apart if they don't fit into a particular pair of jeans or need to go up a size.

The "plus-size" label exists in the modeling industry because the client needs to know what to ask for if they want to hire a model who's a size 14. So many plus-women are offended that models are being called "plus-size." But I think we've put a bit too much time and effort, or weight — no pun intended — on the term.

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Do you feel like it's becoming an increasingly good time to be a "plus-size" model?

Absolutely. Now people are opening their minds, realizing that you can put a plus-size model in your advertisement or commercial or whatever, and you don't even have to draw attention like, "Look what we did! We put a plus girl in there!" And it's only going to have a positive effect.

What kind of misconceptions do you feel like people have about plus-size modeling?

People think we're unhealthy, plain and simple. And that's not the case. So whereas on one hand, there's so much praise and excitement for women like myself or other plus models for showcasing their bodies very proudly, you can't please everyone. There's always going to be a small group of people that thinks you've just, you know, eaten an entire pizza. It's not that way.

Well, you look super-healthy, to me. You're the picture of health.

Thanks! We are super-healthy. Plus models that I know are some of the healthiest girls I've ever seen. They're yoga teachers, they eat strictly organic foods, or they're vegans or whatever. I can't reiterate enough that this is just the way our bodies are supposed to be. I'm extremely active. You don't see me dwindling down to a size 6 because my body's not meant to be a size 6.

Did you start working out when you get into modeling? What's your motivation?

Well, I've always been active. In high school, I was a cheerleader. I played lacrosse. It just feels good. It's not a weight loss thing whatsoever.

Would you be penalized if you did lose weight? Would you get less work?

No, there's work for girls of all sizes. You see a lot of women that are a size 8 working. It just so happens that they're called "plus-size" models too, and then it gets all confusing.

Speaking of a "plus-size" model who is a size 8, are you technically a "plus size"?

Well, yeah. I mean, I am between a size 12 and a 14, and sometimes a store will not carry past a 12. Sometimes they won't carry past a 10. It's a very blurred line for which stores I can shop in, depending on how high they go in their sizing. When they don't carry your size, it takes you out of the store entirely.

Do you ever feel like you have been penalized, in terms of your career, for not being a big enough size?

No. I mean, I think that the clients that need me at the size that I am are the ones that will hire me. There's lots of different girls with different shapes. I mean, I'm not necessarily the same size 12 as another girl that's on the board, just because we are proportioned differently. I'm not offended or worried that I need to make any changes or anything.

What's your regular fitness routine like?

I try to do something active every day. On the days that I can't, I don't beat myself up for it because I live in New York City and I try to walk everywhere that I can.

My husband is a triathlete, so I've been inspired by his training routine (even though I can't match that whatsoever).

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I'm doing this new thing this year where I try to run a mile a day. I'm not a great runner, and I find it extremely overwhelming to say, "Now I'm gonna go for a 30-minute run." Because I can't run for a whole 30 minutes. Instead, I just start small, and say, "I'm going to run one mile." It's really just 15 minutes, and it's less daunting. You just can't go from zero to 60 basically, but my end goal is to be able to finish a 5K without stopping or one day down the line to do a half marathon.

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I'm also a member of ClassPass. Even though I'm doing this running thing on the treadmill, it's a bit like, "I'm not a gerbil. I can't just run in place all the time as my only workout," because it gets boring. You need to keep it fun. So I thought ClassPass was pretty genius and depending on where I'm shooting, I can see what class is nearby and try new things. So far I've only done spinning, but I want to go rock climbing and try boot camp. I like to box, and I have a trainer (Chris Sams) that comes to our place twice a week when I'm around. I feel like that's the new model workout. Everyone's boxing.

I get setbacks occasionally, because of my travel schedule. So I need to make sure to do things myself while I'm gone to keep up momentum. You just feel so much better when you're done. It's like, "Why did I make so many excuses before?" Otherwise, you feel like you're restarting, and you get really sore and want to take time off, and it's an ongoing thing. But the point is to be doing something — just doing something makes you feel better. It's, like, one of my favorite hashtags on Instagram right now, from the athletic brand Without Walls: #GetMovingHaveFun.

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Speaking of, do you have any trouble finding fitness apparel that makes you feel good?

Without Walls makes all these fun pants. Zella from Nordstrom makes amazing plus activewear, and Lane Bryant just started a new athletic line. I've been in the industry a really long time, and I've watched plus fashion change. It's amazing to see designers who previously haven't been involved in plus-fashion linking up with plus-brands or expanding their own sizes and doing their own thing. There's a lot more options now, and that excites me because as a woman, because all these stores exist with all these different trends and options you're supposed to have fun with. We all deserve to wear the things that we love.

Considering the way you feel about fashion for all, how do you feel about Fashion Week? You rarely see plus-size models cast in shows.

I feel like it will come soon. You're seeing curvy girls in all different kinds of publications and doing all these amazing things. Fashion Week happens to be slowly arriving to the party. That's a common question, like, "When do you think curves will be on the runway?" It would be a bold statement for a designer to make, because it would imply they're starting to do a plus line. If that's not their intention, then I can see how that could be a little bit confusing. But it only takes one, so I'm really confident that that is the next thing, for sure.

There's a very big gap between what you see on the runway and plus-size. Why do you think designers don't meet in the middle?

It's hard to say what happens on that end of things, but the whole time I've been in the industry that's the only thing I've seen. For a while there, you only saw the same kind of girls in magazines too, and that's changed. For Fashion Week, we've seen the same thing over and over, and so I just know that that has to change. It will.

You seem really patient.

[Laughs.] It's true. It's true, but I just know it will happen. Definitely.

Are you ever cast in a shoot where there are plus-size models and, I don't even know what you would call them, but "regular" models?

We say straight-size, but that's sort of odd too. But yes, absolutely, I've been on lots of editorial shoots with straight-size girls. I did W magazine twice, and I was the only plus model in that, and I was in the Pirelli Calendar and on a big press tour for that. I don't even give it a second thought because I know I'm a good model; I know there's a reason why I'm there. I've thanked the editors and stylists who cast me in editorials a million times for integrating me without making it a thing, calling me out to say, "plus model Candice Huffine." It's exciting because that means, you know, these people, they just get it, and they know that differences are beautiful and women come in all shapes and sizes.

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Has there ever been a situation, even in a casting or on set, where you doubted yourself or your body?

No. I mean not at all. There have been frustrating moments, where it's like I really want to wear that outfit that doesn't fit me. And it's a little bit of a process to get the looks together, and I'm there like, "Bah, I just want to wear that over there," so that happens. It doesn't make me feel bad; it's just frustrating because I love fashion and I want to wear everything.

Nobody's ever made me feel like I didn't belong there. The other models I've worked with, regardless of their size, have all been super-nice. We've all just sat around and chatted, and there is no weirdness.

Do you feel like you are healthier than some of the straight-size models that you've worked with?

Well, I don't really know what their lifestyle is or their habits, but I will say they are totally eating on set. It's such a shame that people think plus models overeat and regular models don't eat at all. It's got to be such a hard thing for them to always be trying to defend. We probably lead the same kind of lifestyle — me and another model out there probably both ate pizza yesterday. And then we also probably both had a green juice this morning. It's just the way their body is and the way my body is.

Did you really eat pizza yesterday?

I really did eat pizza. Because I travel a lot, I make the best decisions I can in the situations I am in, but sometimes it's just a sandwich on the go or whatever you can grab. Catering is usually really nice on sets, and there's a lot of vegetables and salad options — I love fresh salads and vegetables and things like that. I love the little cheat foods as well. But because I am on the go a lot, I need to keep my energy up and feel good, in general. So I need to make good choices.

When I'm home, we do a lot of smoothies in the morning (that's my husband's doing). It's the best thing for cleaning out the fridge. For breakfast, I'm an eggs kind of gal — usually scrambled, or on Sundays, eggs benedict. Lunch is usually a salad. I love that, in New York, you can just go up to a chopped salad bar, and be like, "I want this, this, this, this." The next thing you know, you have 11 things in there. So that makes it easy to get some veggies in. And then for dinner, I like to cook a lot because I'm away so much that I tend to crave just being home and [eating] super-simple foods. I like roast chicken, a baked potato, and a salad. I know a baked potato is not the most healthy thing, but I'm not loading it. I just always like a starch like a mashed potato, a baked potato, or a French fry. That's my weakness, mostly.

What's your advice for people who get frustrated when they can't fit into clothes because they can't find styles they like in their size?

You just have to keep trying, even the things you think aren't going to fit you or styles you don't think are for you. Sometimes I fall into a rut of my own personal style, where I wear really relaxed pieces that tend to be a little bit shapeless. Today I'm in this tight dress, which is a little different for me, but I want to try and do that more.

Try searching online: There are amazing plus bloggers, like Nicolette Mason, whose style is very sweet and girly and the total opposite from the way I dress. But there's something about the way she puts it all together that makes me think I could try that. All of these bloggers have different styles, and they link to the pieces they've found. There are options. Or there will be. Everything is possible.

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Related: Watch Sophie Simmons interview Orange Is the New Black's Dascha Polanco about body image.

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Elizabeth Narins Senior fitness and health editor Elizabeth Narins is a Brooklyn, NY-based writer and a former senior editor at Cosmopolitan.com , where she wrote about fitness, health, and more.

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