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."
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.
"Feeding your soul is just as important as feeding yourself good food. My mom had told me that as I was going through this transitional time. She kind of helped me with that and it really helped me every single day. I don't care how silly it is. I tell my friends about it all the time.
"Not to say that I don’t have bad days, but everyone has a bad day. And I get up, I live my life like everybody else. I just let that day be a bad day, but I don’t let it be a bad day the next day and the next day. I think it’s important to hone in and stay positive."
WH: How did this change your outlook? Your life? How did your experience with modeling change?
HM: "It has changed my life in so many positive and beautiful ways. Firstly, I’ll point out obviously the career part is amazing. I've gotten incredible jobs, it’s a dream come true. I never thought at the size I’m in, that a magazine like Sports Illustrated would have welcomed me with open arms and accepted my body type. But they have, so lovingly.
"It’s also given me a platform to speak and to be a voice for people who don’t get to have that voice. It’s so great and so important. I’ve gotten to travel to so many places and work with so many incredible organizations. I’m now an ambassador with the JED Foundation, which is an organization revolving around suicide prevention and mental health awareness. I work with One Heart, One Mission, I support an orphanage in Haiti. Opportunities have presented themselves which I would have never had before and I feel very very grateful for them."
WH: What is your advice to women who are struggling with self-image?
HM: "My biggest advice is to wake up and look at themselves in the mirror and tell themselves that they are worthy of self-love. They are worthy of feeling beautiful, of feeling sexy, of being wonderful, and feeling love and giving love. It is a journey, but we’re all in it together. Body image revolves around mental health. It’s all mental. And it’s okay to not be okay. If we have a bad day that’s okay, if we struggle with depression and anxiety, I do, that’s okay.
"We need to champion each other and really lift each other up, tell our friends and sisters and mothers and daughters that they’re beautiful. Compliment each other.
"And look at your body. Look at your stretch marks. I tell women all the time, even women who have children. Those stretch marks are because you carried a child. That’s pretty darn incredible. I have stretch marks and I haven’t carried a child, and I think that's pretty incredible because it signifies growth to me. You have to change things from a negative to a positive. Stretch marks might to society signify something that’s gross, but to me it signifies growth. It’s all about changing your frame of mind."
This interview has been edited and condensed.