Hunter McGrady is tired of people thinking she's
unhealthy just because she's plus-sized. "I'm calling bullsh*t on that,
100 percent," she says. "I could give everybody around me my
cholesterol, my heart, everything and I’m perfect."
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| https://instagram.com/huntermcgrady/?utm_source=ig_embed |
But
the plus-size model says that when she was 16 and trying to break into
the industry, she was a size two—and miserable. She says she didn't
truly find success or happiness until she made the decision to stop
fitting into a size and embrace the body she was born with.
"Opportunities have presented themselves which I would have never had
before," she says—a Sports Illustrated photoshoot being one of those opportunities.
Here's what Hunter had to say about her body-positive journey—and the devastating moment that completely changed her life:
Women's Health: You come from a family of models—how did that influence your childhood?
Hunter
McGrady: "I come from a background of being in the industry. My mom was
a model, my grandmother was a model, my aunt was a model, my dad is an
actor. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I was always on-set, I
always had cameras around me, I was always on photo shoots, and it was
just something I always wanted to do. I looked up to my mom and I
thought she was the most (and I still think she is the most) glamorous
person in the world. I wanted to be like her. And I think that sparked
the fire inside me to want to do it."
WH: When did you start breaking into modeling, and what was your career like in the beginning?
HM:
"My very first photo shoot I think I was 3 or 4 years old, but then
professionally, I did it starting at like 16. I started out as a
straight-size model, that’s what they call it.
"I’m
6 feet tall and when I was 16 years old, I was about a size two and 114
pounds. So right now I’m a size 16, and that looks very different now.
So you can imagine how thin I was.
"I was so
devastatingly unhealthy at a size two. I was not 'thin,' I was starving
myself. I was at the gym for hours a day. A normal meal for me would be a
salad with no dressing and that would be breakfast, lunch, and
dinner—and even then I would feel guilty. Because I felt like I was
ruining the possibility of me becoming that supermodel. I was a hippy
person in general, I knew I had that going against me, so I felt like I
had to work even harder.
"And for a 16-year-old girl, that’s a lot to
handle. When you’re going into castings and agencies, you’re a sponge at
16 years old. You’re getting told that you’re too big, and that you
can’t do it, and that you need to lose weight, that you have to clear
your skin up...basically they say change everything about yourself and
then come back. That’s what they’re telling these girls and I believed
that [about myself]. I fell into severe depression, as anybody would. I
decided that this isn’t something I could do. There’s absolutely no more
I can do, I’ve given everything, I guess it’s just not in the cards for
me.
"So I took time off. I finished out high
school. That time was really a transitional period for me, really an
eye-opening time. I let myself grow. I thought, 'God gave me this one
body, let’s see what happens with it.' And I grew wider, and I had
stretch marks, and cellulite, and I was becoming healthier, and I felt
better, and finally I felt happier. I was enjoying life, I was enjoying
friends and family again, I wasn’t crying every morning and every night.
I was getting out of bed for the first time—there were days when I
would just stay in bed.
"Fast-forward to when I was about 19 years old. I learned about
plus-size modeling. At that time, I was about a size 14. And I said, 'I
want to give this a try!' This is a chance for me to have another crack
at the modeling world, I want to give this a go. I walked into
Wilhelmina Models and they signed me that day. And I’m not kidding, a
week went by and I booked three different things. I booked Forever 21,
Lucky Brand Jeans, and Miami Swim Week. And it was confirmation that it
was go-time."
WH: What was the breaking point for you during your size two days? Was there a moment that made you think, something’s got to give?
HM: "For me it was a photoshoot that I
had gotten hired on. It was a T-shirt company that is in LA. They had
hired me and I was so excited because I was like, 'Oh my god, finally!
This is it!' I had my mom drive me down because I hadn’t gotten my
license yet and I was so excited. This was my proud moment.
"We walked in, and it was very cool for me to see
the lights and cameras and craft services, everyone was walking around,
it was just like the movies. And all of a sudden, everyone was staring
at me. I just felt a very weird vibe on set. And the producer pulled me
aside and talked to my mom and me and said, 'Gosh I really don’t know
how to say this. We’re so sorry—we honestly had no idea how big you
were.' I was a size two.
"At that moment, I had
already had so much devastation. I thought, 'If this is what modeling
was going to be for me, I didn’t want it. It wasn’t worth it.'"
WH: Embracing body positivity is so much more complicated than just flipping a mental switch—what has your journey been like?
HM:
"The key word is it is a process. It is an everyday thing. I think the
main thing for me is positive affirmations. And I know it may sound
cliché. I will literally wake up in the morning—ask my fiancé!—I will
look in the mirror, and tell myself ‘You are beautiful. You are worthy.
Today is going to be a good day. Yeah you have a pimple today but it
looks good on you.’ I will literally tell myself these things before I
go out for the day because I need that.
"Because
of the position that the world is in today with social media, everyone
else is going to tell you different. Because we live in a world where
they are telling you to look different. To have a different hairstyle.
That if you just lose 10 pounds, you’ll be beautiful. If you can’t take
care of the words that you tell yourself, no one else is going to.
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