Australian influencer Amelia Bonnici has gone viral for sharing what a “normal” body looks like in 2024.
The 22-year-old, who works at a coffee shop while finishing her law degree, has been sharing videos of her body online.
In one TikTok, she shares how her ankles and lower legs get “puffy” from standing all day and sometimes look “swollen.”
That clip alone amassed over 700,000 views, and she has over 200,000 likes on the social media platform.
The 22-year-old is passionate about talking about her body and body image in general because she’s struggled with it in the past.
Bonnici was diagnosed with lipedema when she was only 17 years old. It is a long-term condition that causes abnormal fat build-up in the lower part of your body.
Six years later, she was also diagnosed with endometritis a painful disease where the tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus.
Bonnici said she first became aware that her body was different when she was a teenager and that was hard to be comfortable with.
“When my body started to change at 13,” she exclaimed while speaking to news.com.au.
“I knew I was always a lot bigger in my legs compared to my friends.
“I didn’t understand why at the time because I was fit and ate well, this led to developing an eating disorder which lasted four to five years.”
The 22-year-old said during high school, people would unsolicitedly make “comments” about her body.
“Peers at school would make comments about how big I was, and how much cellulite I had on my legs. As a 15-to-16-year-old girl this crushed me,” she explained.
“When I was diagnosed, it was a bitter sweet relief. I finally had an answer as to why my body is this way.”
“I now knew that I punished myself for no reason and that this is now a lifelong battle of managing the disease.”
Bonnici said she’s been recovering from surgery within the last 12 months and it allowed her a reset with how she was treating her body.
“I could barely exercise with debilitating pain. I had previously been going to the gym for 4 years and really trying to battle this disease,” she said.
“I was still yoyo dieting and going through phases of ‘letting loose’ and ‘cutting back.’”
“When I stopped going to the gym, I noticed my body stayed much the same to my surprise, but my mind felt relieved because I was finally done with fighting myself and who I was.”
The law student said that she still goes through “phases” of feeling like not enough but generally she’s in a really positive place with her body image.
“I think the biggest turning point was when I realized that I was punishing my body and my mind for no reason,” she said.
“It was a really big full circle moment because I finally felt proud of my body for putting up with me for so long.”
She explained that she was “nervous” about starting to post about her body online, but she’s now so happy that she did.
“So many women and young girls have thanked me for raising awareness and making them feel more comfortable in their body,” she explained.
“A lot of young girls have messaged me with their stories. One girl said she finally felt safe with her body now, which nearly brought me to tears.”
