Aussie woman shows how changing rooms can make you body look different

Young shopper, 25, shows the VERY big difference lighting makes to how your body looks in change rooms: ‘These are all on the same day’

An young woman has shown how different lighting can affect your body image
Bree Lenehan recovered from anorexia and is now a body positivity influencer
She showed side-by-side images of how her body looks in different lighting
Harsh overhead change room lighting exposed her cellulite and stretch marks
She showed how different she looked hours apart when posed versus relaxed
The 25-year-old reminded her followers there is no such thing as a perfect body

An Australian woman has shown how lighting in clothing store change rooms can differ and drastically change how your body looks.

Bree Lenehan once struggled with a crippling eating disorder and is now using her experience to spread body positivity with her 656,000 Instagram followers.

The 25-year-old businessowner from Queensland posted a series of photos showing the difference between the lighting in various clothing store fitting rooms on the same day and how it made her body look.

Bree Lenehan posted a series of photos showing the difference between the lighting in various clothing store fitting rooms on the same day and how it made her body look to Instagram

She showed a side-by-side comparison of her body in a fitting room with soft light compared to overhead harsh lighting that made her natural cellulite and stretch marks visible

‘It can be a confronting and confusing experience trying on clothes. Seeing yourself so exposed, under harsh lighting, with mirrors showing so many angles that you usually don’t see yourself in,’ she wrote in the post’s caption.

‘In one store, you might feel great, but the next makes you feel worse. One store you’re a size M and the next you’re an L. One mirror makes you look taller, another wider. The list goes on.’

Bree showed a side-by-side comparison of her body in a fitting room with soft light compared to overhead harsh lighting that made her natural cellulite and stretch marks visible.

Bree showed a side-by-side comparison of her body in a fitting room with soft light compared to overhead harsh lighting that made her natural cellulite and stretch marks visible

‘This was one of the triggers I had years ago that made me suddenly want to ‘start a new d!et’… Fitting rooms would tear any confidence I had left to shreds. I’d always end up in tears or completely deflated for the rest of the day,’ she said.

‘I wanted to leave these photos here to show you that it IS possible to eventually smile back at that reflection and not have it ruin your day. It is possible to not feel ashamed of being seen.’

Bree also compared two images taken in a change room on the same day of her body posed and relaxed making it appear as if she was kilos lighter when posing.

Another photo showed her sitting on a change room chair in a pink gingham dress then sitting the same way in the same chair exposing her perfectly imperfect body underneath.

‘It’s possible to be at peace with your body and everything you’ve grown up being taught to hate. And it has nothing to do with actually changing your body… Just your mindset!,’ Bree said.

‘I know that most of the time, our own harshest critic is OURSELVES, so when it comes to our body image, it’s about how WE view and speak to ourselves.’

At her lowest Bree weighed just 48 kilos as fell into the grips of anorexia nervosa in 2018 after becoming infatuated with losing weight and developing an ‘unhealthy relationship with food’.

She was struggling so much with her body image she would rarely leave the house and would shy away from wearing anything that showed her body shape – even around her boyfriend of four years.

Earlier this year, Bree shared a post to Instagram revealing all of the things she ‘gained back’ after gaining weight and seeking help.

Earlier this year, Bree shared a post to Instagram revealing all of the things she ‘gained back’ after gaining weight and seeking help for her anorexia nervosa

‘I got back food freedom, my period, strength, energy, confidence, passion and a desire to go out, eat out, make friends, say yes to more and have fun,’ she told her followers (pictured left in 2018 and right today)

‘I got back food freedom, my period, strength, energy, confidence, passion and a desire to go out, eat out, make friends, say yes to more and have fun,’ she told her followers.

‘No matter how lean I was, I still wasn’t good enough… I still wanted to lose more, or gain muscle, or change something.

‘But now I understand it never had anything to do with the way I looked to start off with. What it really came down to was my mentality… Instead, I should’ve focused on how I spoke to myself, my mental and physical health, my happiness, and how much more I had to offer than my physical appearance.

‘So I did. But I would’ve missed out on all of that if I continued to put the way I looked before the way I felt.’

Bree acknowledged that she still has a ‘leaner’ body type and is aware of the advantages in society of being so, but wanted to raise a point about how she treated that body

Bree acknowledged that she still has a ‘leaner’ body type and is aware of the advantages in society of being so, but wanted to raise a point about how she treated that body.

‘This is about how I treated my body and all of the things I turned down in order to look a specific way. I hope this will encourage you to live a fuller life. Including your tummy!

‘This body I’m in now fluctuates throughout the year, it’s the body that allows me to live my life focused on the things that really matter to me and make me happy. You deserve a life full of the same.’

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