These incredible photos show that you can look better after gaining weight

If there's one key message that needs to be heard to help body confidence everywhere - it's that weight is just a number.

It's common knowledge that a strong, toned body fed a balanced diet is healthier than a body starved of nutrients.

Yet, sadly, weight is still widely seen as a benchmark.

But a couple of hashtags are trying to change that: #gainingweightiscool and #screwthescales.

Here are just a few excellent examples:

1. There's this woman, who gained 3kg

2. And this woman, who gained 12 pounds

3. This woman, who gained 20 pounds and some badass biceps

4. Georgie gained 3KG and a healthier lifestyle.

5. And Lisa, who gained 2KG.

6. Katja, who gained 25 pounds.

7. Julia, who gained 15lbs.

8. And Frankie, who gained 12lbs and a healthier relationship with exercise.

We can learn a lot from these awesome women.

More: This model showed how easy it is to manipulate your body on Instagram