Plus-size model posts beach bikini pics she originally didn't want to share

It's incredibly hard not to feel some of the colossal pressure placed on all of us to look our best at all times.

People - especially women - have been presented with unrealistic images of what their bodies 'should' look like for decades now, but the phenomenon is arguably at its worst right now: in the age of social media.

Now, not only are women confronted with images of airbrushed perfection on the covers of glossy magazines, they're seeing such paragons of filtered beauty every time they scroll through Instagram on their phones.

This teenage influencer got a plastic surgeon to verify that her butt is real:

Yet there are those who're trying to combat the unrelenting stream of washboard abs and blindingly white teeth that makes up much of Instagram.

Movements such as the Grombré trend, which encourages people to embrace their grey hair, and the body positive movement, which encourages people to embrace the skin they're in, eschewing the impossibility of an Instagram model physique.

And plus-size model Kate Wasley is certainly doing her bit to encourage her followers to learn to love their bodies.

Accompanied by two stunning pictures of herself, Wasley wrote;

"I remember looking at these photos when they were first taken and thinking ? I wish I had of worked out harder before this trip. Looking back now I think DAMN GIRL you were looking finnnne, as if you wasted your energy worrying about your body & not indulging on this holiday cause you were self conscious. I’m feeling this in just a few years. Imagine in 40 years time when I look back at think why didn’t I take all these opportunities or go to these events and have a few cocktails and make memories because I felt crap about my body? It’s all a state of mind. For 2020 I’m making a conscious effort to live in the moment and enjoy it and the last thing that’s going to hold me back is the fear of what other people think of my body."  

Check out her post in full right here:

And she's since posted another series of snaps encouraging her followers to be less hard on themselves:

Hopefully, with more and more people like Kate Wasley spreading a body positive message, the unrelenting pressure of body image will begin to ease.