Overweight Woman Whose Boyfriend is 'Thin, Fit and Muscular'

The idea that couples should be paired by body weight (thin with thin, and overweight with overweight), has lead one Californian woman to stand up and face bullies that taunt her everyday.

Gloria Shuri Nava, 25, from San Jose, is overweight. Her 22-year-old boyfriend of 18 months, Ali, who she met online, is 'fit and muscular'; and according to Miss Nave, many people can't comprehend why he would want to date her.

In a candid essay for Yahoo!, Miss Nava writes: 'When people say things out loud, their comments range from cruel ("Is he blind?" "He's only with you to get a green card") to awkward quips such as, "It's great he can see past your looks," or "He's so nice for being with you."

And the remarks even extend to her friends.

'Now and then, even people close to me made unkind remarks,' Miss Nava, a prominent beauty blogger on YouTube recalled. 'Once, when I confided to a friend, "I can't believe he likes me!" he answered, "Yeah, I know!"

But some of the worst comments come from her own fans. Miss Nava's YouTube channel, Glowpinkstah, where she reviews beauty products and shares details about her life, has more than 250,000 subscribers.

'While most are supportive, there are a fair number of bullies,' she says.

Some of the more hurt questions she has received include: '"She has a boyfriend? What is wrong with the world?" and "These two had sex?! Oh god, why?"'

But Miss Nava, who says she has been overweight her whole life, is trying to get past the comments and relish her relationship regardless of what society thinks.

The pair met online in 2009, after Ali, who currently lives in Glasgow Scotland and is moving to California this summer to get his PhD in clinical psychology, saw one of Miss Nava's videos.

They began instant messaging, and for two-and-a-half years, spent hours talking online, developing a close bond from thousands of miles away - and each knew exactly what the other looked like.

'I knew he was into big girls,' Miss Nava admits. 'His exes were chubby.

'Some think it's weird, but it's like having a thing for blondes: It's just a preference.'

Finally in December 2011, having still not meet in person, the couple admitted their romantic feelings for each other and five months later Ali flew to California to meet Miss Nava, and her family, for the first time.

'When Ali landed at San Francisco airport. . . I turned around and saw him walking toward me with a huge smile on his face,' she recalls.

'He gave me a hug, and kissed me on the lips. I thought to myself, He's my boyfriend, and he's here!'

Miss Nava, who has actually lost 40lbs since the couple first met a year ago, believes Ali is the 'best thing to have ever happened to me.'

'He's been good for my health,' she explained. 'I was at my heaviest when we met, and I've lost 40 pounds since. My goal is lose 80 pounds total, and he's very supportive.

'Before Ali, I never showed any skin whatsoever, but he makes me feel confident going out in a cute little dress that doesn't cover me head-to-toe. I can wear a sleeveless dress, shorts - things that typically people don't want to see me wearing -and not care.'

Thanks to her boyfriend's support, Miss Nava has launched The Beauty Adjustment, which focuses on the message that 'there is no one "normal" way to look or love.'

'Beauty and relationships come in all shapes and sides: brown, yellow, short, tall, thin, fat - and one partner doesn't have to mirror the other. Love is love. That's a lesson that Ali taught me, and now I want to teach it to the rest of the world,' she said.