Sarah Nicole Landry Shares Powerful Message About Criticism Over Her Body Following Miami Swim Week

The content creator and mom of four got candid on Instagram about loving herself and tuning out the noise.

Sarah Nicole Landry / Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Content creator and mom of four Sarah Nicole Landry has never been one to let the voices of small-minded internet trolls get to her. The mom of four, who is best known for her blog, podcast and online platforms all under The Birds Papaya handle, made her SI Swimsuit runway debut earlier this month, when she made an appearance on the brand’s catwalk during Miami Swim Week.

The 39-year-old is always keeping it real with fans, from sharing her personal body image struggles to speaking vulnerably about self-discovery and more. She’s a powerful storyteller and an inspiration to women everywhere. In her latest Instagram post, Landry revealed that she’s experienced “more body shaming” since her Miami Swim Week appearance than she ever has before. And while normally she doesn’t address it, she felt it was an opportunity to prove the fact that beauty ideals are ever-changing and there is no one definition of beauty.

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“[Body shaming has] happened for me at every weight and size and it’s been relentless in my entire existence starting when I was on a playground. What’s the point of body shaming? No really. What is it? To keep us feeling small, playing small? Too much, never enough? I have a unique perspective,” she began. “I’ve put my body through hell to be a size 0 and I was miserable, unhealthy, crumbling. But I would have done anything to escape the body shaming I received at a larger size. But guess what? It still happened. And guess what? Most of it came from within. So when they tell me how not enough I am, I remember what it felt like to live small to be small.”

Landry added that when she previously posted the video of her runway walk, she knew it would likely result in backlash from trolls. But the Canadian model didn’t turn comments off, and more importantly, she didn’t care. What mattered was that the video would reach women who needed to see it and read her message. The video was for women who wanted to see themselves, their body types, their life story and their struggles represented on such a large stage.

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“When I shared the video of my walk and I said in the caption that I knew it would receive negativity but it mattered more to me that we showed up for our ONE FREAKING LIFE, I meant it. These negative commenters are not the ones that need us. They’re not our kids or our partners or our memories. They’re not US,” she continued. “So I’m sharing with you some of the messages that are the kind we focus on, the ones we give our energy to. Because while I have this one life to live. We also have only so much energy to give. And I believe we are collectively better when we choose to not just give kindness but receive it louder than the rest. There will be many in this life that won’t like you. Don’t be one of them. So cheers to us, exactly right now.”