Miss Canada Siera Bearchell shames body-shamers

Miss Canada Siera Bearchell has no patience for body-shamers.

Bullies have admonished the Miss Universe contestant for gaining weight since she won the Miss Canada title last December.

"I was recently asked, 'What happened to you? Why have you gained weight? You are losing points,'" Bearchell, from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, wrote on Instagram. "This was a reference to my body, of course. While I am first to say I am not as lean as I was when I was 16, 20, or even last year, I am more confident, capable, wise, humble and passionate than ever before."

Bearchell has fans praising her for her body-positive posts.

"I am secure and that's what makes me beautiful," she wrote on Instagram. "When you call me lazy, fat, and mediocre, what are you saying to the women of the world?"

The pageant competitor said that restrictive diets made her "miserable, self-conscious and I never felt good enough."

"No matter how little I ate and how much weight I lost, I constantly compared myself to others and felt like I could still lose more," she wrote. "My mental perception did not match the physical body I saw in the mirror. There were days I would eat a protein bar, work out for hours and struggle to fall asleep because I was so hungry."

Bearchell has also posted this sound advice: "My fellow ladies, remember that true beauty and validation start from within."