A body-positive Instagram star is on a mission to change the way the world uses the word "fat".
Julianna Mazzaei, known online as Jewelz, has been taunted about her weight her whole life.
Despite this, she has learned to love her size 22 curves, and hopes that sharing her story will help more women to feel confident in their own skin.
Size sexy: plus-size models
During her childhood, Jewelz skipped school because she was constantly hounded by bullies.
She remembered: “I hated school. There were so many times where I skipped school, the bullying was so bad.
"I can give you probably a whole dictionary of names. Fatty, tub of lard, whale.
“When people are making snarky comments about you behind your back or under their breath it’s harder to stand up for yourself and say what needs to be said.”
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It wasn’t until two years ago that Jewelz’s mindset changed.
Taking inspiration from other plus-size women online, she decided to accept her body.
She revealed: “Until I was 23 years old, I hated myself. Through finding inspiration online, and coming to terms with who I am and what I need to do, I knew I needed to start accepting who I was, I knew I was good in the inside but I felt who I was on the inside didn’t make up for what I looked on the outside.”
The curvy model’s mum was astounded by her daughter’s new found confidence.
She said: “Jewelz totally changed, it was an over night thing.
“There was this girl that used to walk around with three or four layers of clothing and then all of a sudden one day a couple of layers came off and I started to see skin.
“She was happy to be alive, she was smiling, she was going out Then the butterfly emerged that we call Jewelz."
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Determined to help others to be more body confident, the 25-year-old started posting snaps of herself online.
She remarked: “I started doing it so I could inspire people.
“I would definitely say that modelling is a career for me, I would definitely present myself more as a body activist.”
One of the messages she hammers home to her followers is that the word “fat” shouldn’t be taken as a bad thing.
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She explained: “I definitely think that we have to reclaim the word ‘fat' as positive.
“A scale doesn’t define who you are”
Julianna Mazzaei
“As a negative word for so many years, it is about time we take it back, and realise that it is not a bad word, it is not a bad thing and it shouldn’t be shaded in a negative way.”
Jewelz also encourages her fans to not check-up on their weight, as this can affect your self-esteem.
The Instagram star insists that she lives a happy and healthy life and doesn’t need to know what the scales say.
She said: “A scale doesn’t define who you are and it doesn’t define your health what so ever.
“I definitely think that I live an active lifestyle and I think that that’s the term that people should definitely use.
“I’ve never had a doctor tell me to that I have to change my diet or that I need to lose weight. I’ve had a doctor tell me that I was fat for sure but they were never immediately like well you need to lose weight like your health is at risk.
“You’re not automatically unhealthy being a bigger person and you’re not automatically healthy being a thinner person and even if you were unhealthy you’re still entitled to self love and people need to remember that.”