
Riley Hemson was born in New Zealand in the 1990s, a decade notoriously unkind to women's bodies. It was the height of Weight Watchers and diet shakes, when the 'in' aesthetic was heroin chic, and the beauty standard was impossibly — and literally — narrow.
As an active, sporty kid who happened to be bigger than many of her peers, Riley didn't see herself reflected anywhere in popular culture. Not in a positive way, at least.
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"Whenever I would see a bigger body, it was the one being made fun of in a movie," Riley told Mamamia's No Filter podcast. "It would be the one on the magazine cover being ripped to shreds about their cellulite."
Riley's family steeled her against most of it. They celebrated her achievements in sports and at school, as well as her ability to make people laugh. But then came her early 20s, when a bad breakup, an ankle injury and mental health struggles saw her abandon her active lifestyle.
"I'd look in the mirror and go, 'I don't like the way that I am. I've always been bigger, but I've put on weight in a short period of time. My life doesn't feel good at the moment,'" she said.
Her solution? "[I told myself] I'm going to make an Instagram page, I'm going to lose the weight, and I'm going to become successful and worthy."