Biggest Loser trainer Erica Lugo took to Instagram to share candid photos of her body after losing 160 pounds and revealed she is having surgery to remove her loose skin.
“Real, scary and raw transparency post. Nervous AF as I type and share,” she captioned two photos on Friday, September 4, that showed her excess skin and stretch marks on her midriff after she pulled her leggings down over her hips. “I’ve worked really hard to lose 160 lbs. I’m proud of the muscle I’ve built and I’m more proud that I’ve been able to keep the weight off for 5 years.”
“This is what I look like,” she continued. “Loose skin has been apart of my journey for 5 years. I’ve always been okay with it. It’s been my battle scar, but the more I begin to build muscle and get leaner I get the more loose skin builds up. No amount of exercise or nutrition will help the loose skin pockets on my hips and stomach.”
Lugo, who previously battle thyroid cancer, admitted “it wasn’t an easy decision” to schedule the surgery.
“It’s been something I’ve researched for years,” she continued. “I’ve been back and forth for years and I’m finally scheduled Sept 22nd with @athenixbody and I couldn’t be more nervous, scared but excited!”
She promised her more than 647,000 followers that she will be “tracking every second of this journey. Just had a pre op call to prep myself for all the post op care. 2 weeks until we leave!”
Lugo, who became a trainer on the Biggest Loser earlier this year, admitted to Us Weekly in July that she struggled with her body image after arriving on the set of the show and telling the wardrobe people that she wouldn’t wear crop tops.
“They were so welcoming, and they listened to me,” she told Us. “They were so used to the trainers wearing crop tops all the time that they just had to change what they gave me and I loved it. … I’m like, ‘I had a baby, I weighed 322 pounds, that’s just not gonna work because I have stretch marks and loose skin that will hang out, and I just don’t feel comfortable showing that on national television.’”
The gym owner admitted she “got a lot of heat for my body-type being a trainer on the show,” but said that thousands of women reached out about finally feeling accepted as a size 8 or 10.
“I’ve got cellulite and stretch marks,” Lugo told Us. “I’m strong as hell, but it does not make any impact on how awesome I can work out and how strong I am or how knowledgeable I am about fitness.”
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