When People Laughed At This Woman's Loose Skin, She Just Smiled

While on vacation in Mexico recently, blogger Jacqueline Adan decided to wear her first bathing suit "in a long time," she wrote in an Instagram post. It was a big moment for Adan, whose major weight loss has left her with loose skin. But even though she was ready to wear a swimsuit in public, she was still worried about taking off her cover up.

"I was nervous to take my cover up off and to walk into the pool or walk on the beach," she wrote. Unfortunately, her worries came true, when a couple sitting by the pool started laughing at her. But instead of feeling dejected or reaching for her cover up, Adan made the moment even more empowering for herself.

"So what did I do? I took a deep breath, smiled and walked into the pool," she wrote.

Their laughter bothered her, of course, but she didn't allow the couple to tear her down. Which showed Adan that it isn't only her weight that has changed. She has also become more confident and comfortable in her body (which, it's important to remember, no one needs to lose weight to accomplish).

"Yes I still have a lot of loose skin, I may still feel insecure at times, and yes I may still get made fun of," she wrote. "But I was not going to let people like that affect me anymore! I am not going to let what other people think of me stop me from living my life."

Those people in the pool aren't aware of what Adan's body has been through — her weight loss or her surgeries — and it wouldn't matter even if they did. Because no one has the right to laugh at or judge another person's body, or make them feel less than just because of the way that they look.

"That's why I smiled," Adan wrote. "It does not matter what others say or if they try to doubt you or try to bring you down. What matters is how you react to it."

Above all, she tells Refinery29, she hopes that people who have been criticized for their bodies are able to ignore the hatred and learn to love themselves — even though it can be difficult.

"I know it's not easy to love yourself all the time and love exactly who you are, especially if you have been criticized and made fun of all of your life. I know it is hard," she says. "But your opinion of yourself is the only opinion that matters. Only you know what you are going through and only you have the power inside yourself to be truly happy."