A woman with body dysmorphia faced her worst fear and started #CelluliteSaturday

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Kenzie Brenna is a 26-year-old actress, writer, and body-positive activist who spent most of her life suffering from body dysmorphic disorder.

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Instagram/@omgkenzieee

Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental disorder in which sufferers fixate on perceived "defects" in their appearance. Oftentimes these "flaws" are either minor or don't exist, but people with the disorder feel so ashamed and anxious that they sometimes avoid social situations all together.

Now three years into her recovery, Brenna uses social media to face her fears and openly celebrate her imperfectly perfect body.

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Instagram/@omgkenzieee

And she's helping other women learn to love their own bodies in the process.

Hi, I'm Kenzie! It's #WorldMentalHealthDay ???? The girl on the left wishes she met the girl on the right ten years ago. The girl on the left was hiding her left arm so people didn't become uncomfortable realizing her self harm, she couldn't eat in front of people and she didn't want anyone to love her, she was also in therapy in a alternative high school for people with learning disabilities. She has an awesome sense of humour, loves pizza and her dogs. The girl on the right who is still trying to get her footing still loves pizza, has a wicked sense of humour and loves her dogs. Something's never change. The things that have: got a better therapist, used social media as a tool to heal, can eat in front of others without feeling triggered AND increased her reading level ???????? ???????????????????????????? Be so so kind to others, invisible and visible battles happen daily and we just really don't know what each one of us is really going through. #staykindandloving #stayaware

A photo posted by Kenzie B (@omgkenzieee) on

Brenna started #CelluliteSaturday on Instagram to remind her followers what real, unretouched bodies look like.

GOOD MORNINGGGG ✨☀️???? So, today is #cellulitesaturday ???????? Let's talk stats ok? These are pretty wild to me. 42% of girls in grade 1-3 want to be thinner ???? 78 fucking % of 17 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies ???? "Teenage girls are more afraid of gaining weight then getting cancer, losing their parents or nuclear war." ???????????? In 2013 the American Medical Association created a policy that really didn't go anywhere, stating that the effects of digitally altering images to impressionable youth were so harmful they cause HEALTH PROBLEMS. I'm not fucking making this shit up people. And did it do anything? Nope. That's why offering up my #realbody, unedited, unfiltered for you to look at, for trolls to rip apart, is important because we have LITERALLY FORGOTTEN WHAT REAL BODIES LOOK LIKE. To quote WIKIPEDIA "cellulite occurs in 80-90% of women, the prevailing medical condition is that it's 'merely the normal condition of many women.'" ????NORMAL. It's fucking NORMAL.???? With stats above it drives me so hard so that way my future daughters and sons grow up with more real images of bodies around them than I did. To pray their mental and physical health isn't as affected as mine was. #fuckyeahhhhh #thisbody #celluliteisokay #bodyconfidence #nobodyshame #recovery #bodyimage #bodyimageissues #cellulite

A photo posted by Kenzie B (@omgkenzieee) on


“I use social media as therapy,” Brenna told People magazine. “I find things I’m insecure or vulnerable about and I post a picture and write about my thoughts."

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Instagram/@omgkenzieee

Brenna explained that cellulite naturally came up because she felt ashamed about hers.

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Instagram/@omgkenzieee

"But why?" the Toronto resident asked. "Women are genetically predispositioned to it. Why am I being ashamed of something 90% of us have?”

Brenna's message clearly resonated with other women. Dozens of Instagram users have uploaded #CelluliteSaturday posts of their own, catapulting Brenna's hashtag into a full-fledged movement.

Outtake turned favorite shot for #cellulitesaturday hosted by my girl @omgkenzieee . She shared some seriously eye opening statistics this morning about the epidemic that is body image distortion plaguing our young people. I find so much value and passion in my work with young teen girls, teaching them the foundations of self love so that they don't wait until they're 30+ to start discovering how amazing they are with my nonprofit @girlphoria . We can make a difference by creating an open environment to talk about the expectations and the realities. I don't put bathing suits on and flaunt my body for attention or validation. I do it for the young girls and women trying to find someone that looks like them in a sea of photo shopped bodies. In short- body diversity. Representation of all the different ways you can look with emphasis that there is no right or wrong way????. This is why you'll find me sharing the parts of me that make me uncomfortable. So that I can provide peace for just one girl that she is worthy, cellulite and all. As always babes, just do you! Xoxo Allie

A photo posted by ???? ALLISON ???? Girl Power Guru ???????? (@allisonkimmey) on


Decided to be brave and raw with you guys. No filters, no editing, no cropping out my unmade bed/messy room. This is me. If you don't know, #CelluliteSaturday is a thing started by the beautiful @omgkenzieee. 93% of women have cellulite!! And while that statistic says the majority of women have it, think about how many of us try to get rid of it. The presence of cellulite is largely genetic, and im sorry to tell you that any topical cream is not going to get rid of it. I would be lying if I said i haven't tried to get rid of mine. I carry cellulite largely on my thighs and butt, especially underneath my butt. I workout 5 days a week, I eat a balanced diet, I drink lots of water, I foam roll every now and then. All of these things are said to be able to help reduce the presence of cellulite. But guess what? Who gives a fuck? lol. Honestly though. There are SO many other things that could be and ARE "flawed" about me. And if I have the "flaw" of cellulite than so be it. These "flaws" say nothing about me as a person, or who I am. This "flaw" that the majority of women have is considered a "flaw" because of the standards set by the beauty industry. Go look in a magazine, or any sort of ad with women showing skin and tell me if you see cellulite. The one company I know of that doesn't retouch the models is @aerie. But other than that, smooth skin with no evidence of cellulite is the so-called standard. And as women we constantly see that and then assume there's something wrong with us that needs to be fixed. My point is that if you have cellulite, you are not abnormal!! You aren't "flawed!" YOU aren't CELLULITE. You have cellulite. Just like you have eye boogers, ear wax, body hair, BO, split ends, stretch marks, moles, skin discolorations, acne, etc. These don't define you. Your character, heart, sense of humor, ability to understand. Those things define you and who you are as a person. Give yourself a break ladies. Much love????❤️ #Cellulite #StretchMarks #LoveYourself

A photo posted by L e i g h a M c D a n i e l (@leigha_lifts) on


Brenna is thrilled with the support and words of encouragement she's received since starting #CeluliteSaturday.

“Loving yourself is the scariest, most incredible revolution one can go through,” she says. “The rewards are eternal and your struggle becomes the voice for others who can’t yet articulate what they are going through. Having the courage to love yourself in a world that constantly is telling you to change — that’s the riot I will be apart of.”

Brenna is proof that you can use social media to inspire positive change.

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Instagram/@omgkenzieee

And that is TRUE beauty.

Maria Fischer