31 January 2023 , 12:32
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A plus-size model has left her fans stunned after sharing a throwback photo from a few years ago - where she looks unrecognisable.
Gracie Bon, from Panama, often shares photos of herself to her Instagram and is inundated with compliments from her followers. And this week, the 25-year-old uploaded a shot where she looked completely different and shared a heartfelt message about body positivity to go along with it.
The snap showed Gracie at the age of 21, where she weighed 21 stone. As well as having a curvier figure, the model was also seen in glasses and braces while dressed in casual clothes.
Gracie admitted she loved her body back when she was 300lbs, but suffered from knee pain (graciebon/Instagram)She told fans in a caption she used to "love her 300lbs body", the DailyStar reports.
However, she decided to lose weight after suffering with knee pain and struggled to breathe when she walked.
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"21 years old VS 25 years old," she wrote.
"It all started by loving my 300lbs body. And still many say to me: 'But if you had loved it, you would have stayed like this and not changed.'
"The truth is that I loved it so much that I wanted to take care of it and decided to save myself."
She added: "I do not settle at my 21 years with complaining about my knee pain, neither did I settle for not being able to breathe well when I walk. I wanted more.
"And wanting more is okay, it will always be okay what's best for you and what makes you happy."
Gracie concluded: "Being skinny doesn't make you healthy; neither does being fit make you superior.
"We all have our times, processes and no one knows the condition or health status of an overweight person.
Gracie's fans praised her for the throwback post (graciebon/Instagram)"So if you see someone going through a hard time because of their size, love them dearly and understand that you don't know what they're going through.
"Maybe that affection is all you need to see yourself with eyes of love."
Fans were loving the post, with it racking up more than 125,000 likes.
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"Amazing babe," exclaimed one, as another added: "You look amazing and did a wonderful job at sticking to your plan and getting to your goal body!"
A third gushed: "Beautiful inside and out."
Others did question whether the weight loss was "natural" though.
One probed: "Is this all natural or no? Asking because I'm genuinely interested."