Fitness Model Anna Victoria Shares a Meaningful Message

“Good or bad angles don’t change your worth”

It’s hard NOT to scroll through Instagram and see so many seemingly-perfect celebrities, models, and fitness gurus and think, “Why doesn’t my body look like theirs?” Or even “Why don’t *I* look like them?” Which is why it’s really important that so many popular Instagrammers are making sure their followers realize that something THEY don’t even look like their most polished pictures.

Case and point: fitness model Anna Victoria, who has over a million followers on her account. Inspired by others’ motivational messages, she shared pics of what her bikini body looks like when she’s NOT posing for social media.

Spoiler alert: she’s beautiful both ways, but looks VERY different.

Along with her photos, taken on the same day just at different angles, Anna shared an honest and inspiring message about why it’s important we don’t stress about having picture-perfect bodies.

“Me 1% of the time vs. 99% of the time. And I love both photos equally. Good or bad angles don’t change your worth ,” Anna captioned her photo. “I recently came across an article talking about how one woman stated she refuses to accept her flaws, because she doesn’t see them as flaws at all. I LOVED that because it sends such a powerful message that our belly rolls, cellulite, stretch marks are nothing to apologize for, to be ashamed of, or to be obsessed with getting rid of!”

Anna closed out her Instagram post with a call for us all to focus on what’s amazing about our bodies, instead of what we think are flaws.

“How can I be mad at my body for perfectly normal ‘flaws’? This body is strong, can run miles, can lift and squat and push and pull weight around, and it’s happy not just because of how it looks, but because of how it feels,” she wrote. “When you approach your journey, I want you to remember these things: I will not punish my body I will fuel it I will challenge it AND I will love it. If you’re following my page, you’re a part of helping me spread this message and creating this movement.“

Story by Kristine Hope Kowalski