Swimwear model, 29, who only found success when she GAINED 10kg

Publish date: 2024-08-30

To find success in the modelling industry, many will have you believe that you need to be a size 8 and rake thin.

But one model has proven that this isn't the case, revealing that she only found success as an Instagram swimwear model when she gained ten kilograms.

Karina Irby, 29, was a healthy teenager until she started out on social media and fell down a rabbit hole of calorie counting, excessive cardio and feeling inadequate.

Karina Irby, 29, was a healthy teenager until she started out on social media and fell down a rabbit hole of calorie counting and excessive cardio (pictured before and now)

Karina Irby, 29, was a healthy teenager until she started out on social media and fell down a rabbit hole of calorie counting and excessive cardio (pictured before and now)

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Share It wasn't until she re-located to the Gold Coast that she saw different kinds of figures, and realised that curves can be as beautiful as being slim (pictured now at 64kg)

It wasn't until she re-located to the Gold Coast that she saw different kinds of figures, and realised that curves can be as beautiful as being slim (pictured now at 64kg)

'I was sickly skinny and always getting ill,' she wrote on one Instagram photo.

'I'd pretty much shot down my immune system by not eating the right foods and pushing myself with cardio.'

It wasn't until Karina re-located to the Gold Coast that she saw different kinds of figures, and realised that curves can be as beautiful as being slim.

'I remember thinking to myself, "I'm hungry", and that's when I actually started working out, you know, lifting weights and not just doing cardio,' Karina told Ten Daily.

Slowly and steadily, her weight increased from 54kg to 64kg.

'Some of the weight is from muscle,' she told the publication. 'And some is from fat.

'I found it really hard in the beginning [to get used to her new body]... but I noticed difference in my personality and in my moods.' 

Slowly, Karina increased her weight from 54kg to 64kg (pictured now) While she 'found it really hard in the beginning', she said she saw a difference in her mood and personality

Slowly, Karina increased her weight from 54kg to 64kg (pictured now) and while she 'found it really hard in the beginning', she said she saw a difference in her mood and personality

And within a matter of months, Karina's following online grew too, with many of her fans turning to her page for a dose of body positivity from the swimwear designer.

Today, the CEO of Moana Bikini has more than 900,000 Instagram followers - where she shares real and unPhotoshopped snapshots of her life and approach to food and fitness.

In the past, Karina has spoken to FEMAIL about her desire to portray a body positive image online, and how she changed her body by ditching cardio and taking up weights.

'I loved going for long runs,' Karina recalled of the time. 'I had no idea about what foods I should be eating and no idea about health and fitness in general.'

'I wasn't eating nearly enough of the right food, or food at all to be fuelling my body.'

[Now I've been] working out, hard, for the past two to three years,' she said.

'I started at a personal training gym @starke_fitness and participated in four, 45 min sessions a week. I lift weights, heavy weights!

'I only do cardio once or twice a week, but still incorporate weights into my exercises. I eat well and I eat a lot.'

Karina has spoken to FEMAIL about her desire to portray a body positive image online, and how she changed her body by ditching cardio and taking up weights (pictured before and now)

Karina has spoken to FEMAIL about her desire to portray a body positive image online, and how she changed her body by ditching cardio and taking up weights (pictured before and now)

The model and bikini designer's typical daily diet includes a protein shake filled with protein powder, a banana, half a cup of berries, one tablespoon of chia seeds and a cup of almond milk at breakfast.

At lunchtime, she will either make her own lunch of a salad sandwich on sourdough, a quinoa salad bowl, or vegetable sticks with hummus.

If she doesn't have time to make something, Karina said she'll order a 'chicken burrito bowl, zucchini sweet corn fritters, [or] chicken breast with sweet potato and coleslaw'.

Nowadays, her followers love her for posting a real and unPhotoshopped approach to modelling and photos (pictured)

Nowadays, her followers love her for posting a real and unPhotoshopped approach to modelling and photos (pictured)

When the 3pm sugar cravings hit, Karina has a way around it.

'Protein World make these amazing Slender Bars that taste incredible but are also high in protein and packed with natural ingredients - they help to curb that sugar craving without the added guilt,' she said.

Evening meals are her favourite, the bikini designer explained, adding that she and her partner often spend their time cooking up butter chicken, chicken and salad tacos, prawn laska, baked fish or sweet potato nachos.

'Basically, with my weekday meals - from breakfast to lunch to dinner - the goal is to eat clean, protein-rich foods, low in sugars, to ensure my diet complements my training,' she said.

Meanwhile, at the weekend, she is more relaxed, favouring things like Protein world pancake mix in the morning and chicken parmigiana for dinner.

'I think it's really important to set aside at least one meal a week to be a "treat" to reward yourself for your hard work maintaining a good diet,' she said.

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