Fitness blogger shares weight gain transformation to combat belief that 'smaller is better'

She rejects the 'diet culture narrative'

A fitness blogger has shown off before-and-after photos which show her body getting bigger - a “reverse transformation” which she shared to help combat the belief that 'smaller is better'.

Jen Brett, from Canada, has built an Instagram following of more than 307,000 followers by regularly posting body-positive messages alongside photos of her current body size.

And while the YouTuber is comfortable and confident in her skin now, she wasn’t always.

According to Brett, who developed an eating disorder in the sixth grade, the journey to where she is now has been filled with ups and downs.

In addition to having a “fear of weight gain,” the blogger revealed in a recent YouTube video that she also began using exercise as a “socially-acceptable way of controlling her eating disorder.”

“I got on the trend of fitness, I thought that was a way to recover,” Brett said, before informing her more than 56,000 YouTube subscribers that she realised that eating more and gaining weight needed to be part of that process.

As Brett recovered from a period of her life that revolved around counting calories and weighing herself, she became dedicated to showing people that it’s okay to change - and gain weight.

Now, the 22-year-old regularly posts side-by-side photos of her transformation, which she is proud of - despite comments from trolls telling her she looked better before.

“It’s okay to want more for your life than to worry about how much you eat or if your muscles are shredded enough,” she wrote. “Some people say I let myself go but jokes on them because what I really did was allow myself to live outside of the boring diet culture narrative that tells us smaller is better and I’m so damn proud of myself for that!”

Brett’s message has inspired others to embrace their bodies and care less about societal expectations.

“Girl, you did not let yourself go! You look incredible. F**k the haters,” one person wrote.

Another said: “This is so inspiring.”