As I flipped through the September issue of Glamour magazine on a warm New England day I was intrigued by the article “What everyone but you see’s about your body.” As I lay on the beach in a bikini I was feeling self conscience, even though my husband kept telling me I looked great.

When I see the nude photo of Lizzi Miller on page 194 my jaw drops. There she is, posing totally nude and hiding her assets. But what struck me most was her stomach, which hung over her g-string and I am certain is more common with women than the airbrushed washboard abs we are used to seeing in magazines. Suddenly I felt relief as if someone had the confidence to bare it all without feeling self conscience. As I lay there on the beach I suddenly thought, I look fabulous!

The photo of Miller used for the article has caused major buzz in the modeling world. It’s a photo that measures all of three by three inches in Glamour magazine, but letters have flooded their inbox ever since the issue hit newsstands. And why? Because the picture wasn’t of a celebrity or a supermodel, but a woman sitting in her underwear with a smile on her face and real belly. Instead of looking uncomfortable, she is glowing and proud to be there. Editor-in-chief Cindi Leive has been inspired by the overwhelming support to reconsider the models shown in the magazine’s pages.

So what’s the story behind the photo? “The woman on p. 194″ is actually 20-year-old model Lizzi Miller, and this is her second appearance in Glamour, shot by fashion photographer Walter Chin. A size 12-14 and avid softball player/belly dancer, Lizzi moved to New York City from San Jose, CA three years ago to become a model (a “plus-size” one by modeling industry standards even though at size 12 she’s actually “normal size”).

“When I was young I really struggled with my body and how it looked because I didn’t understand why my friends were so effortlessly skinny,” Lizzi told Glamour. “As I got older I realized that everyone’s body is different and not everyone is skinny naturally–me included! I learned to love my body for how it is, every curve of it. I used to be so self-conscious in a bikini because my stomach wasn’t perfectly defined. But everyone has different body shapes! And it’s not all about the physical! If you walk on the beach in your bikini with confidence and you feel sexy, people will see you that way too.”

Leive told Matt Lauer on Monday’s TODAY Show, “You get a reaction like this and you can really see it. It’s also a sign of the times that women are really looking for a little bit more authenticity and a little bit less artifice in every part of their lives. Will it change our approach? I think it will.”

And speaking with Lauer on the TODAY Show, Miller admits she wasn’t initially thrilled about a picture showing her belly roll. “I’m just like every other girl who has insecurities,” she said. “The first thing I thought was, ‘OK, not the most flattering picture.’ This was a real picture — they just caught me in a moment when I was feeling comfortable and I was just being natural, and it was just the way it came out.”

Of Miller’s belly, Leive said, “You see it all the time when you look into the mirror, and I think that’s what women reacted to here. They’re actually seeing something that looks the way so many of us really do, but you don’t see represented that often.”

Cheers to Lizzi for having the bravery to show off her spectacular sexiness and owning who you are. You go girl!