Popular Fitness Model Bares Cellulite and Imperfections to Inspire Followers

nicole mejia
Nicole Mejia, a fitness model and guru on social media, reveals her personal body issues to inspire followers. (Photo: Instagram)

Nicole Mejia found popularity and fame on Instagram as a fitness model, gathering well over 1 million followers as she showed off her shapely curves. Now, the creator of the #FitAndThick franchise revealed in a new Instagram post that her journey is shifting from physical beauty to overall acceptance and health.

Time for me to get real with you guys. My body fat percentage is currently the highest that it's been since I started Fit and Thick. Funny thing is, so is my happiness and self-acceptance. When I was on my quest to "look the part" of entering the fitness industry, I ended up losing what fitness was for me in the first place. It never used to be about looking a certain way, but about the mental clarity and emotional release that I was able to achieve after an hour of pushing my body past what I thought I was capable of. ????It was how I was able to find body acceptance in the first place. – By placing so much emphasis on my aesthetic goals, I lost touch with the fulfillment that I once experienced through my relationship with fitness. It's an important lesson to grasp and I hope that by being open with my revelation, I can light the way for you to connect these same dots within yourself. – The way I look will never make me truly love myself. I need to reach deeper than the shell and work on the empty parts. – So I recently set fitness goals with my class that have nothing to do with our appearance. Goals like: ? 30 consecutive push-ups ? 3 miles without stopping ? Following through on working out 5x/week for a month straight Attainable goals that will require us to motivate ourselves in new ways. Goals we won't need a mirror for. – You are more than the way you look. Is it important to take care of your temple? Yes, but why is that getting the majority of our attention? Why do we place so much emphasis on the way we look instead of focusing that energy on intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth? – Seems ironic coming from someone who gained 1.4 million followers on Instagram because I put my body on the internet. I think it's exactly why I feel so strongly about reaching higher and bringing anyone along with me who's open to it. Not just on the outside but on the inside too. Not always individually, but as a community too.???? – I made a promise that I would be vulnerable with you guys, and when it comes to me and my body image, this as real as it gets. I am flawed. I am loved. But I am so much more. – And so are you. ???? #selflove #fitandthick

A post shared by Nicole Mejia (@nicole_mejia) on Apr 13, 2017 at 10:48am PDT

Mejia, who hails from Pembroke Pines, Fla., began her modeling career eight years ago at the urging of friends and has worked with some top commercial brands and magazine outlets. Using an affable approach to fitness and body positivity, Mejia candidly revealed her own struggles with body acceptance in one of her recent Instagram posts and explained that Fit and Thick is about more than looking the part.

From Mejia’s post:

“Time for me to get real with you guys. My body fat percentage is currently the highest that it’s been since I started Fit and Thick. Funny thing is, so is my happiness and self-acceptance. When I was on my quest to “look the part” of entering the fitness industry, I ended up losing what fitness was for me in the first place. It never used to be about looking a certain way, but about the mental clarity and emotional release that I was able to achieve after an hour of pushing my body past what I thought I was capable of.”

Unabashedly showing skin in a light green bikini, Mejia didn’t shy away from revealing examples of cellulite, both up close and at a distance. That boldness isn’t uncommon for Mejia, who has posted images of herself without makeup or in the middle of workouts looking less than glamorous but with her usual upbeat attitude.

NEW BLOG POST: My Journey to clearer skin? One of my personal goals last year was to get to the bottom of what was causing my cystic acne. What I have uncovered- piece by piece- is that there is never typically one food, cream, or treatment that will completely cause or cure your skin issues. The skin is not only the largest organ, but it is also a player in our bodies' amazing ability to detoxify itself- along with the liver, kidneys, digestive and lymphatic systems. So if the skin helps to do the same job that the lymph, gut, liver and kidneys do, wouldn't that make them all connected in some way? ???? Cue holistic medicine: ????the condition of our skin is a good indicator when assessing the state of what's going on inside the body. Think about it, if the other players in the detoxification pathways aren't working properly, the skin will have to go into overdrive to get all those toxins out. We develop things like eczema and acne and then treat them as "skin conditions" but fail to connect the internal dots. Serious question: Have you ever thought about what your intestines look like when you get all bloated? Probably worse than a few pimples, if we’re being honest! The skin takes the brunt of the blame and treatment for the issues that arise on the surface but it’s not typically where the problems originate from. – What I found out is that I have two mutations in my detoxification pathways which make it difficult for my body to absorb certain vitamins (B complex) and break down stress hormones in the brain (catecholamines). My skin was working around the clock to pick up the slack. What started out as a quest to find clear skin turned into another level of self love and appreciation. All those negative things I had said and thought about my skin when all it was trying to do the whole time was keep my body healthy. This realization made me want to take better care of my skin and nourish my body from the outside in. – If you struggle with acne, you know that it can take its toll on your confidence and relationships… ???????? Read the rest on the blog section of getfitandthick.com!

A post shared by Nicole Mejia (@nicole_mejia) on Mar 6, 2017 at 12:26pm PST

Mejia concluded in her vulnerable post that she’s embarking on a new set of goals for fitness but is moving past the desire to look good in a two-piece. Instead, she’s making it her mission to inspire others on their journeys.

Mejia was the target of a lawsuit in early 2016 by an ex-manager who alleged that the model failed to pay a percentage of her revenue in return for putting her on the scene. The case seemingly came and went, and it didn’t slow any of Mejia’s momentum this year. Mejia’s Fit and Thick brand was created in 2013, culminating into an app that designs workout plans, videos, and meal suggestions along with other fitness aids.

The 28-year-old has famously bragged in past interviews that her body carried the proper amount of fat and muscle, which gave credence to her pride in her natural curves and made her a popular figure for her 1.4 million followers.

????

A post shared by Nicole Mejia (@nicole_mejia) on Apr 8, 2017 at 1:59pm PDT

Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and@YahooBeauty.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next