Tess Holliday Wants Her New Book to Help People Feel 'Less Alone' Amid the 'Vastly Different' Body Positivity Movement

Tess Holliday has some important messages in her new book, Take Up Space Ya'll.

Holliday speaks exclusively with OK! about the writing process for her latest read, how people can love themselves in an era of weight loss drugs, the central thesis of the book and navigating social media.

"I was brainstorming titles for the book because we had it mostly written, but I didn't have a title," Holliday recalls of coming up with the moniker for her latest venture. "Then I just thought to myself, 'Take up space.' That's exactly what I do! I take up space! I always tell people, 'Take up all the space. Don't shrink yourselves. Don't hide yourself.' I told my co-author and she loved it. The rest is history!"

With the rise of weight loss drugs, Holliday knows the world is in a much different place than when the body positivity movement began.

"The biggest act of defiance that we can do during these times is to genuinely be ourselves," the influencer notes. "We need to take up space and not shrink ourselves because I think that's what we are being told to do. That's what the system and those who are trying to make us feel like that want. I want people to feel less alone in this. Sometimes I look at my colleagues in my industry, and it's vastly different. I miss the times when I felt like we were celebrating and championing true body diversity and all of that, but we aren't at the moment. That's not going to stop me and others from still trying to keep those memories alive."

Holliday also had an important message when putting pen to paper.

"When I was writing the book, I kept thinking to myself, 'What would my lonely teenage self really need to read right now?'" Holliday reveals. "Or when my family was picking on my body, or when my eating disorder developed. What would have been helpful that I knew then? So, it was honestly just from our own personal experiences or being parents, where we have to cover this ground. This is something that I wish I had thought of when I really needed it."

Holliday notes that the comparison culture we live in can take a significant toll on how we see ourselves in the world. However, there are ways we can curb our intake.

"I am only human. I am only a human that is trying to survive in what feels like a rat race sometimes because all of this is designed to keep us scrolling," she says. "To keep us on our phones, to keep us locked in. I was just reading a really interesting article where they were talking about the effect that all of this is going to have on us in 10 to 20 years. I'm not sure I believe in balance. I don't think that there is such a thing, but when I wrote the book, I put in a few things that I do, such as taking breaks or when I'm with my friends, putting my phone away."