Embracing self-love and weight gain: Celebrities who spoke out about body positivity

MANILA, Philippines — Stars are saying and standing by weight and self-love.

Sandara Park, also known as Dara, recently shared a trivia that surprised everyone. During her guesting for the December 29 episode of "Problem Child in House," Dara shared that she has found an unlikely way to gain weight. 

She started, "I've never been over 38 - 39 kg in my life. I've never been really into food. I don't eat if I'm not feeling well, and I don't eat if I'm busy. My lifelong wish was gaining weight. I've tried a lot of different things to try and gain weight." 

The 2NE1 star was a guest of the show that tapped Super Junior's Heechul as its current host. 

Dara then revealed that she recently gained "about 7 - 8 kg." She attributed her weight gain by hanging out with her "Video Star" co-hosts Kim Sook and Park Na Rae. 

"They both love food very much. I eat with them often, and suddenly, I realized that I wasn't putting my chopsticks down either," she shared, adding that she now wears two sizes up. 

"Sook unnie was so happy that I started gaining weight and told me that I look really good," Dara shared. 

Aside from her, two women also displayed their idea of self-love by calling out body-shaming. 

Janella Salvador posted on December 26 on Twitter: "Filipinos are the worst body shamers. Let me enjoy my Christmas pudding in peace. Happy holidays to you too," she posted. Her tweet has 68,300 likes and 5,700 retweets. 

Filipinos are the worst body shamers.
Let me enjoy my christmas pudding in peace. Happy holidays to you too! ????

— Janella Salvador (@superjanella) December 26, 2020

The following day, on Sunday, Jennylyn Mercado, opened the floodgate for discussions as netizens felt strongly with her tweet. 

Can we discontinue this toxic Filipino trait na tuwing nagkikita ang hilig mag komento tungkol sa physical looks ng iba tulad ng -
“uy tumaba ka”
It’s not okay. First of all it’s rude, second it may trigger some people na may Ed.
Maling mali.

— jennylyn mercado (@MercadoJen) December 27, 2020

"Can we discontinue this toxic Filipino trait na tuwing nagkikita ang hilig mag komento tungkol sa physical looks ng iba tulad ng - 'Uy tumaba ka'. It’s not okay. First of all it’s rude, second it may trigger some people na may Ed. Maling-mali," the lead star of the recently ended "Descendants of the Sun" Philippine adaptation posted. 

Netizens gave their approval with the actress with 30,900 likes and 5,045 retweets.

People started sharing their own stories of dreading to go home especially on holidays because they are faced with the seemingly normalized holiday greeting of "You've gained weight." 

Twitter netizen @piecesofchi reacted on the actress' post, "I stopped going to major family occasions because of this. My aunts’ favorite question is, 'o ano, mahirap ka pa rin?' Closely followed by, 'magpapayat ka na. ok lang na pangit basta sexy.' It’s easier to isolate myself from them than to pretend their words don’t hurt."

Jennylyn replied, "Bessie, your looks and status sa life don’t dictate your worth as a person... Don’t let how they treat you dictate how you live your life. You are worthy just as u are and u deserve to be happy. I feel so bad don’t know what to say."