{"id":17409,"date":"2017-03-05T12:26:51","date_gmt":"2017-03-05T12:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=17409"},"modified":"2017-03-05T12:26:51","modified_gmt":"2017-03-05T12:26:51","slug":"curvy-model-im-tired-hating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=17409","title":{"rendered":"Curvy model: ‘I’m tired of hating myself’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mia Kang eats. And not celery. When she sits down for an early dinner, she chows down on ribs, tempura vegetables, and truffle pizza. As for libations, bring on the wine, please.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a size 4-6, I\u2019m sane and healthy, and I have self-confidence for the first time in my life,\u201d the model tells Yahoo Style. \u201cI\u2019m not going to conform anymore, and I\u2019m tired of hating myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a hard-won battle for Kang, who grew up in Hong Kong; her father is British, and her mother is South Korean. Today, she respects her body and treats it with reverence. She wake-surfs, is a muay Thai fighter, nurtures a mean Pokemon Go obsession, and has degrees in finance and financial law that she earned during a break from modeling. But peel back the layers, and you see the real Kang.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was discovered at 13. I grew up as an obese kid and teenager. I was heavily bullied in school. When I was 13, I cut my weight in half \u2014 I stopped eating,\u201d she tells Yahoo Style. \u201cAnd then as soon as I became skinny \u2014 deathly skinny \u2014 I got scouted as a model. I went from one extreme to the other extreme. I saw the ugly side of people. The boys who bullied me asked me out on dates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mia Kang as a heavy kid, and while super-fit. (Photo: Mia Kang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It all started when doctors told her she was at risk for diabetes because of her obesity, and Kang started to freak out. She knew nothing about health or nutrition, and she didn\u2019t know how to change her dietary habits. So she stopped eating on her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went a couple of months, and I lost about 43 kilos [about 94 pounds],\u201d she says. \u201cIt left me riddled with psychological issues I\u2019ll have for the rest of my life. It has given me issues with my body. I wish girls wouldn\u2019t hate themselves. I spent so much of my younger life hating myself. I wish I had embraced my differences and enjoyed life a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Modeling came with its own host of issues. During her earlier days, she was told to straighten her curly hair to look more \u201cAsian,\u201d and nearly every project involved some kind of Geisha theme. Kang got fed up. \u201cWhy can\u2019t I just be myself?\u201d she asked herself.<\/p>\n

Her Sports Illustrated<\/em> shoot came by in the most nonsexualized way possible. She met with MJ Day, the editor of Sports Illustrated\u2019<\/em>s swimsuit issue. Kang was fully dressed, never had to don a bikini during their sit-down, and just talked for an hour. She\u2019s in the same body-diverse issue as Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman and Simone Biles, plus Kate Upton and Hunter McGrady.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe priority is the woman I am, and not what my body looks like,\u201d she says of the casting. \u201cYou go in, you sit down, and you have a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, she posts Instagram videos showing herself sans makeup to prove to her followers that she\u2019s not perfection incarnate. And when she looks at photos of herself, she still doesn\u2019t see a stunner; she sees \u201can obese whale\u201d and analyzes every imperfection, real or imagined.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to a casting earlier today and I looked completely different from every girl who was in there, and it\u2019s tough and it\u2019s hard,\u201d says Kang. \u201cI just want to be a positive role model for younger girls and boys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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Mia Kang eats. And not celery. When she sits down for an early dinner, she chows down on ribs, tempura vegetables, and truffle pizza. As for libations, bring on the wine, please. \u201cI\u2019m a size 4-6, I\u2019m sane and healthy, and I have self-confidence for the first time in my life,\u201d the model tells Yahoo Style. \u201cI\u2019m …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[391],"tags":[515,1430],"yoast_head":"\nCurvy model: 'I'm tired of hating myself' - TheFastFashion.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=17409\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Curvy model: 'I'm tired of hating myself' - TheFastFashion.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mia Kang eats. And not celery. 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