Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Mother-Of-Three Learns To Embrace Her Post-Baby Body By Hiking In The Nude

Mother-Of-Three Learns To Embrace Her Post-Baby Body By Hiking In The Nude
Indiana (PA Real Life)

This mom has revealed how she has come to terms with her stretch marks after having three children by hiking in her birthday suit and posting pictures on Instagram.

Indiana Lush felt her self-esteem plummet after the birth of her third child in 2010, when she started gaining weight and developing stretch marks. Both incredibly common side effects to pregnancy. So, she wanted to embrace her body and help those whose self-esteem is affected by something so natural.


So, in 2016 while out hiking, she had an epiphany. She decided to strip off during a hike, and commemorate the moment with a snap she later posted to Instagram – now boasting 1,500 followers to her site, where she posts weekly updates of her naked shenanigans.

Indiana does not wish to name her children or her ex-husband, said of her defining moment. “I didn't really think much of it at the time, other than it was something I felt a strong urge to do," she said. “Then when I put my naked hiking picture on Instagram, suddenly lots of people liked and said nice things about it – which made me feel really good about myself. I had done a bit of modeling in my 20s and so was always fairly confident about my appearance and comfortable being photographed."


Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

However, our bodies change through life. It is okay to not always be confident, and it is definitely okay to showcase how beautiful we are regardless.

“But after having kids, your body starts to change and things like cellulite and stretch marks appear, which made me feel a lot more self-conscious about myself than I ever had been before," Indiana continued. “So taking pictures was a way of reminding myself that I am still attractive, and it has been a big help in returning to me an element of self-love."

Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand, Indiana was taken on hikes and camping trips by her outdoorsy father Peter, a landscape gardener, as soon as she could walk, along with her siblings Justin and Luke.


Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

Though she found it “tedious and dull" until her early 20s, when a terrible twist of fate saw her take up the hobby in earnest.

“When I was 19 my dad was hit by a car in a drink-driving incident and lost the use of his legs as a result," she explained. “He was really passionate about hiking and after the crash it made me realize how important it is to be able to walk and use your legs."

Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

“Then when he died five years later when I was 24, I started going for hikes, mainly as a way to connect with him," she said.

Soon her own passion for nature was awoken and she regularly trekked for 20 km (over 12 miles) at a time, through the stunning national parks around her Australian home – even traveling to Peru, USA and Hawaii for lone walking holidays.

Back then, though, she would never have considered walking naked.

Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

“It would have been too uncomfortable with all the backpacks and kit on, underneath the strong sun," she admitted. “I did enjoy skinny dipping, though, in the waterfalls and brooks I found on my travels."

Then in 2016, feeling particularly down, she was seized by the urge to bare all and her subsequent social media post changed her life.

“Social media is both a curse and a blessing," Indiana said.

Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

“In many ways it makes people very anxious about how they look because it sets a standard of beauty," she continued. “But it can also be a good ego boost, having people post nice comments about how you look naked, and it reminds you that you don't have to be a supermodel to feel good about your body."

The positive response Indiana received to her naked snaps provided an outlet to work on her self-love, and share it by photographing herself regularly, using a self-timer on her phone which she would lean against a tree or her bag.

Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

As a result, her Instagram presence and followers quickly grew, hand-in-hand with her self-esteem.

But her gallery of nude selfies caused some controversy within her own family, with her brother Justin deciding to stop following her.

“He didn't want to see pictures of my naked bum, which I guess is fair enough," she said.

Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

“But while I think my dad would've been pretty embarrassed, he would have seen the funny side to it," she continued.

Keen to keep stripping off well into her dotage, Indiana wants to encourage anyone who is struggling to come to terms with aging or their body changes to follow her “liberating" lead.

“I tell all of my friends to go for it and do it all the time, but none have taken me up on it yet," Indiana said.

Indiana (Collect/PA REAL LIFE)

“I think because it can be a little frightening getting naked and a lot of people feel uncomfortable doing it," she continued. “But for me it has been totally liberating – both exhilarating and enlightening in equal measure."

More from Trending

 Andrew Isker
Contra Mundum Podcast

Christian Podcaster Roasted After Claiming He Opts For TSA Pat-Down For Truly Bonkers Reason

Christian nationalist Andrew Isker from Tennessee avoids walking through an airport security scanner at all costs because he claims it makes people gay.

So what's the alternative method he prefers for security clearance? A full body pat down by male TSA agents, of course.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nancy Mace
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Nancy Mace Ripped After Raging Over 'Evil' Constituents Asking Her To Host Town Hall

In March, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders held a caucus meeting to instruct Republican members of Congress to cancel town halls and avoid their constituents for the foreseeable future. But South Carolina MAGA Republican Representative Nancy Mace decided to take things a bit further.

Mace posted three videos attacking her own constituents for sending her an invitation and repeatedly asking for a town hall.

Keep ReadingShow less
Back shot of five young, carefree female friends stand in a field of tall sunflowers clasp hands and raise their arms to the sky.
Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Unbothered People Explain How They Became Immune To A-Holes

Being able to walk away from toxic people is a skill.

Too many of us have wasted too much time in life on people who drag us down.

Keep ReadingShow less
parents holding child's hands
Nienke Burgers on Unsplash

Times People Realized Their Parents Weren't Who They Thought They Were

Some kids grow up with an inflated perception of their parents. They see them as infallible heros.

These kids are usually in for a very rude awakening.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov
10 News First/YouTube

American YouTuber Arrested After Sneaking Onto Remote Island And Leaving Diet Coke For Uncontacted Tribe

24-year-old YouTuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was arrested after making contact with one of the world's last uncontacted tribes, making the perilous and ill-advised journey to North Sentinel Island and leaving a coconut and a can of Diet Coke on the beach as a gift to the Sentinelese.

Polyakov, 24, arrived at the northeastern shore of North Sentinel Island at 10 a.m. on March 29, according to police reports. He used binoculars to survey the land but saw no one. He then climbed ashore, leaving behind a Diet Coke and a coconut, took sand samples, and recorded a video, the authorities said.

Keep ReadingShow less