Honeymoons are meant to be wonderful, love-filled, exciting trips where all your worries are eased by time spent with your partner.

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But for London-based style blogger and Marie Claire columnist Callie Thorpe, her worries were heightened when she started receiving online hate after posting a honeymoon photo of herself riding a bike in Mexico to her Instagram.

28-year-old Callie, who posed on the bike in a swimsuit, was told by hateful commenters that she should ‘keep cycling’ so that she ‘wouldn’t be so fat’.

Callie let the comments slide and got on with her trip – but they really started to grate on her when she returned home.


She told PEOPLE: ‘One in particular made comments about me needing grease to get into my wedding dress and that really upset me.



‘I think it was an accumulation of exhaustion after a 10-hour flight, and it being one of the first things I saw when I got back into our home together. I started to cry and I just thought, ‘When will this stop?’ and ‘Why do I deserve this just because I share pictures of myself enjoying my life on the internet like everyone else?’’

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But after getting all of that frustration out of her system, Callie decided she wasn’t going to let the comments get to her. In fact, she was going to post more pictures – letting the online haters know just how much she loves the skin she’s in.

First, she posted a picture of herself in her bikini. And instead of focusing on how she looked in the bikini – she asked her followers why it even mattered. Why should she be congratulated for wearing a bikini just because she’s not a size 0?

Callie, a size 24, said: ‘It’s not brave to be in a Bikini guys, it’s just not I don’t deserve a medal or your praise when I put one on and share it on Instagram. Let’s all get to a point where it’s just normal for a woman to put on a bathing suit on her holiday and it not be a big deal.’

Then, she posted a photo of herself in a swimsuit – this time to focus on cellulite. She noted that it’s normal – practically everyone has it. ‘It’s a part of our skin, it’s bumps of fat underneath said skin,’ she wrote.

‘I promise you that no matter how many creams or how much you ‘brush your skin’ you will still have it. It makes no difference on you as a person or certainly on how attractive you are.’

Finally, she posted a photo of her and her husband, Dan, as a big middle finger to all who still don’t get that she’s happy in her own skin, and that’s all that matters.

And she really hit the nail on the head when she said: ‘So I’ll take being fat, I’d rather be overweight and full of love than an image of perfection and lonely.’



Let’s face it, she looks ridiculously happy and in love and that sure beats worrying about what you look like to trolls you’ve never met.

But of course – the issue is bigger than that. It’s not just about online trolls, is it?

It’s about how we view ourselves and how we feel in our own skin. While Callie is visibly happy with who she is (and so she should be, we think she’s gorgeous), not all women can relate.

A study conducted by Weight Watchers found that 40% of Brits avoid mirrors because they don’t like what they see, while 15% actually refuse to have mirrors in their house – and over a quarter shop online to avoid seeing their reflection in a changing room mirror.

And that’s just heartbreaking.

If we could all stop comparing ourselves to other people, giving out negative opinions on people, we don’t know, and feeling as though none of us can stop until we achieve this simply unattainable level of beauty, maybe, just maybe, we could get work on what’s most important – loving ourselves.

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