Alyssa, now 29 years old, is the oldest of four and feels like of her siblings she was the one her parents were the hardest on growing up.
“My mom shoved her disdain for my body size and shape my whole life. I was told no boy would ever love me because I was fat, I wouldn’t get a good job because I was too big to look good in dress clothes,” says Alyssa, who never thought she’d do something so daring as a boudoir session but recently showed her mom and did exactly that with us!
Her peers in school only furthered those thoughts of body shame, she says.
“I have lost 120lbs (and gained some back). Most days are great but some days all I see is my past self in the mirror. All I hear is my mother’s voice. There are people who have still called me fat since,” says Alyssa.
Now, Alyssa has an amazing boyfriend who only sees her as beautiful, yet she still struggles from time to time with that inner voice her mom instilled in her from an early age.
“He tries his best to help me on bad days but it’s hard.”
Alyssa says that joining the Allebach Photography VIP group (which has reached over 7,000 followers!) helped open her up to not only her own body positivity, but to doing her own solo boudoir session.
Though she says she was nervous and had a fear of finding fault in each picture of herself, Alyssa rocked her session with lots of black lingerie and boots and was completely taken off guard by how comfortable she felt during her session.
“I didn’t expect to feel so comfortable so fast. Mike and Erika were amazing and made it feel like we were old friends,” she said.
Alyssa’s favorite part of the day was her photo reveal and what she said about how she felt after seeing her images is EXACTLY why we love doing what we do.
“I feel invincible…like I was seeing myself for the first time through eyes untainted by the awful things people had said my whole life. Like I was free.”
Alyssa got an album so she can look back and remember those feelings when she’s struggling with her body positivity.
Got someone in your life trying to bring you down about your body? Show them how wrong they are! To book your own solo boudoir session with Allebach Photography, call 610.539.6920 or visit http://allebachphotography.com/contact/