Lena Dunham reveals she's happier now than when she was slimmer

'As I type I can feel my back fat rolling up under my shoulder blades. I lean in'

Lena Dunham has won praise for an Instagram post revealing how much happier she is now than when she was slimmer.

The Girls star posted two side by side images - one of when she weighed 138 pounds (63kg) and the other as she is now, weighing 162 pounds (73kg) - and explained that she now embraces her larger body.

Dunham, 32, revealed that when she was slimmer, she may have been “complimented all day” but was also “propositioned by men and on the cover of a tabloid about diets that work.”

What’s more, the actor, writer, producer and director said that at the time, she was “sick in the tissue and in the head and subsisting only on small amounts of sugar, tons of caffeine and a purse pharmacy.”

Today, however, Dunham feels “happy, joyous and free.”

She says she is now “complimented only by people that matter for reasons that matter, subsisting on a steady flow of fun/healthy snacks and apps and entrées, strong from lifting dogs and spirits.”

However, Dunham admitted that even she - an “OG body positivity warrior” - can’t help occasionally looking back at the picture on the left “longingly.”

That is, until she remembers “the impossible pain that brought me there and onto my proverbial knees.

“As I type I can feel my back fat rolling up under my shoulder blades. I lean in.”

And Dunham’s post has been received with widespread praise.

“Thank you for this amazing post,” one person commented. “You are the only one out there and you needed to experience the pic on the left in order to appreciate the one on the right.”

“Good for you!” another added. “You look exactly the way you’re meant to look - like a person who is happy! Doesn’t matter was size you are, it’s how you feel.”

“To have someone (especially in the public eye) speak so freely and joyously of what they have accomplished and their journey boosts the moral of all of us who also struggle,” commented another of Dunham’s followers. “Thank you.”