Weight loss among fat-acceptance influencers a fraught topic

Bigelow (pic), a former teacher in Albany, Georgia, created Phatgirlfresh.com, with 67,500 monthly unique visitors to her site and nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram.

NEW YORK: Fashion and lifestyle blogger Maui Bigelow has always been curvy and built a social media presence by embracing every pound. 

Until the worst happened. At nearly 380 pounds (172kg), her health took a dive. She was diagnosed with a blood cancer and multiple uterine fibroids that couldn’t be treated due to her weight. That’s when she decided to have bariatric surgery, a weight loss procedure.