Phases, Freedom & the Evolution of Body Positivity
For over a decade, Gabriella Lascano built a platform rooted in self-love.
In 2010, long before brand deals and viral TikToks, Lascano began posting on YouTube. She has shared that from a young age, “I always knew I was bigger.” She dreamed of being a star but believed her size would disqualify her. Online, however, she found something different: a community of plus-size women who felt empowered seeing someone who looked like them living boldly.
“That just made me feel like I had a bigger purpose in what I was creating,” she said in a recent opinion video.
With more than 600,000 followers across platforms, Lascano became part of a digital wave that helped redefine beauty standards. She spoke about confidence, fashion, and taking up space without apology. For many women, the body positivity movement felt like paradise — no pressure to shrink, no demand to conform.
But over time, her perspective shifted.
Three years ago, Lascano posted a TikTok saying she felt “guilty” for participating in parts of the movement that, in her words, had lost sight of “real health.” She described feeling as though she had been “brainwashed.” The backlash was swift. Fellow creators labeled her “fatphobic.” She says she felt ostracized and eventually stopped identifying with the movement altogether.
In interviews, Lascano shared that at her heaviest she weighed around 400 pounds. She began noticing physical limitations: difficulty wearing heels, fitting into rollercoaster seats and airplane seats, and wearing some of the clothes she once enjoyed. She questioned whether “loving myself at any size” had become an excuse to ignore how her body was changing.
Her shift deepened after the deaths of fellow influencers Jamie Lopez and Brittany Sauer, both of whom had been associated with body acceptance spaces. While she has acknowledged she doesn’t know the exact causes behind their deaths, hearing their public regrets about health impacted her personally.
“I’m going to say something controversial, and I don’t care,” she said in the now-viral TikTok. “Health is real. Organs failing is real. Diabetes, heart disease — all that is real. It’s not fatphobic to care about your health.”
Today, Lascano continues to create beauty and lifestyle content. She maintains that you can love yourself and still want to lose weight. “We can still love ourselves even if we want to lose weight,” she has said. “That’s what real body positivity should stand for.”
Her evolution echoes conversations surrounding Lizzo, who for years symbolized unapologetic confidence on global stages. Lizzo proudly celebrated larger bodies, challenged industry norms, and helped many women feel seen. Recently, she has spoken candidly about prioritizing fitness and mental health, and her visible weight loss has sparked its own debate.
When public figures change, audiences often feel confused — even betrayed. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: we expect women to remain consistent in ways we never require of anyone else.
Movements are meant to liberate us, not lock us in.
The body positivity movement began as resistance to shame. It created room for plus-size women to exist in fashion, media, romance, fitness spaces, and on magazine covers without apology. That foundation matters. Representation matters.
But so does personal evolution.
At Phatabulous, our foundation has never been about freezing a woman in one version of herself. We celebrate the plus-size woman at any stage of her weight and life.
Because life happens in stages.
In phases.
In awakenings.
As a plus-size woman, I love who I am. I love my curves. I love my presence. But I also know I feel my best when I have a physical fitness plan or regime. I feel my best when I am aware of what I’m putting into my body and how it affects my energy, hormones, mood, and longevity.
That awareness is not self-hate.
It is self-study.
And that is something every woman should practice, not because society demands it, but because it allows you to navigate your own body. No influencer, no comment section, no critic can tell you what feels best in your body better than you can.
What concerns me isn’t that women evolve.
It’s that we shame them when they do.
Sometimes, the loudest resistance comes from people who are uncomfortable with growth. Those who don’t know how to enter new phases in their own lives often want you to remain loyal to who you were — because your evolution forces them to confront their own stagnation.
But growth is not betrayal.
It is maturity.
You can believe obesity carries health risks and still reject cruelty.
You can pursue weight loss and still reject shame.
You can love your body today and desire change tomorrow.
Those truths can coexist.
Phatabulous will always stand on this: plus-size women deserve celebration, not just when they are defiant, not just when they are trending, not just when they fit into a political narrative, but at every stage of their becoming.
Your body is not a brand.
It is not a debate.
It is not a movement mascot.
It is your home.
And homes evolve.
Real empowerment is not demanding that women stay the same to prove loyalty to a movement. Real empowerment is giving women the freedom to grow — without judgment, without shame, and without losing their dignity in the process.
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