International No Diet Day (INDD) is an annual celebration of body acceptance, including fat acceptance, and body shape diversity. This day is dually dedicated to promoting a healthy life style with a focus on Health at Every Size (HAES) and in raising awareness of the potential dangers of yo-yo dieting and the unlikelihood of success.

In celebrating International No Diet Day, a collective of strong, diverse women came together to form THE SUCCULENT SIX a team of pseudo-superSHEroes united on a mission of body acceptance.  Their goal: to STOP THE FOOD FIGHT. For just ONE day stop the brow beating, fat shaming and self deprecation that women (and men) face day in and day out. Shoot the censors, cast off the constraints, and LET IT ALL GO for just ONE DAY.

The Succulent Six and Toronto photographer N. Maxwell Lander have produced a photo series (samples attached) celebrating decadence, diversity and beauty at any size. They have paired with Award-Winning Toronto social justice program F-YOU: The Forgiveness Project to bring F-YOU: Food this Friday May 6, 2016 at The Forgiveness Project Headquarters, 401 Richmond St W. F-YOU: Food will feature members of THE SUCCULENT SIX and a live panel discussion of body acceptance, self love and forgiveness.

The SUCCULENT SIX question the idea of one right body shape, and celebrate beauty at ANY size. They aim to help end weight discrimination, size bias and fat phobia. And most of all they champion a day free from diets and obsessions about body weight.  In the words of the SUCCULENT SIX, if we can start with one day free from body policing maybe, just maybe, we can secure the other 364.

They are big. They are strong. They are beautiful. And they are PROUD of who they are. They invite you to do the same.

The summer of 2016 saw several public body shaming incidents which received global media coverage, namely Playboy Playmate Dani Mathers’ public body shaming of a woman changing in the gym, and numerous forced removals of plus size women’s bikini photos on social media by the likes of Instagram and Facebook. 

In an age where women of all shapes and sizes are fighting to reclaim their right to feel beautiful at ANY size, THE SUCCULENT SIX and Toronto Photographer 
N. Maxwell Lander... 

 ... are pleased to present their tribute to Herb Ritts, and the body acceptance movement that has been gaining recent attention across social media around the world. 

This photo depicts five members of the SUCCULENT SIX stripped bare and reminds us that in order to question the idea of one right body shape, we must be willing to celebrate beauty at ANY size.

In the 1980s, Herb Ritts along with other notable contemporaries, provoked a radical change in how nudes were depicted. His strength as a photographer was his knack for analyzing the body from a variety of angles and building compositions that abstracted it in ways that conveyed strength, simplicity and poise. 

His nudes radiated a poise and elegance which embedded him in the history books as one of contemporary photography’s ground-breaking artists, redefining nudes for years to come. His legendary photograph of the top models of the 1990s Stephanie Seymour, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz and Naomi Campbell has become an iconic image synonymous with the 1990s era of the supermodel.
In time for the change of the seasons, Toronto’s very own team of curvy super SHEroes brings their latest photographic installment, SPRING AWAKENING. Spring is officially in the air and just as the seasons transition, so do our bodies, minds, and souls...naturally.  While societal pressures to create the perfect summer body shift into high gear, pushing us to be more, to be better, and change what we currently are, the Succulent Six are stepping away from the pressure to change and instead becoming rooted in embracing the moment - exactly where you’re at.
In an age where women of all shapes and sizes are fighting to reclaim their right to feel beautiful at ANY size, THE SUCCULENT SIX and Toronto Photographer Robert Skuja are pleased to pay tribute to the goddess within, in solidarity  with International Women’s Day, and the body acceptance movement that has been gaining recent attention across social media around the world.  

This photo series depicts each member of the SUCCULENT SIX embracing their inner goddess. 
Our bodies, along with the beautiful flowers of Springtime are on an ever-transitioning journey, destined to be different with each passing day. Rather than looking forward to an evolved version of self, we are dedicating this shoot to the beautiful Goddesses that already reside within each of us, and we urge you to do the same. Be gentle with yourself, embrace the perfect version of self that already exists, and allow yourself to blossom naturally alongside the awakening flowers of Spring.