Emily Skye wants to show her “real life” side on Instagram.
The fitness influencer, 34, recognizes that a lot of what people see on the social media site is perfectly filtered, so she makes a point to share her “flaws” — like the loose skin on her stomach that stuck around 16 months after giving birth.
“We all have these parts of us that some may deem as ‘flaws.’ I like to call them ‘being human’ and ‘being unique,’” Skye wrote on Instagram. “… So here are a couple of pics showing me standing without my wrinkly tummy skin visible and with it visible.”
The trainer said that the lines on her stomach are the proud result of carrying her baby daughter, Mia.
“I love myself whether you can see the wrinkly skin or not and I feel confident either way,” she said. “This is why I choose to wear tops to show my belly! I’m proud of my body and what it’s capable of.”
Skye admitted that she didn’t always love her body.
“It took me many years to be confident and comfortable in my own skin and I still have moments when I’m not but most of the time I am,” she said. “Remember that everyone has insecurities no matter WHO they are. You might look at someone and think they’re ‘perfect’ but that doesn’t mean they’re confident.”
And Skye wants to model the body-love she now has for Mia.
“Self-love, body confidence and appreciation is something I’ll always place importance on and it’s something I’ll teach my daughter Mia as well — to love and be grateful for who she is and what she’s got,” she said.
Skye initially struggled in the months after giving birth to Mia in Dec. 2017. She dealt with postpartum depression at first and didn’t feel ready to get back to one of her favorite things, exercise.
“Dealing with baby blues and being able to do very little about it was tough,” she told PEOPLE in March 2018. “I really, really wanted to train but I just wasn’t physically ready to. My hormones were all messed up and I was crying and feeling miserable for absolutely no reason.”
Skye also felt some pressure to immediately “bounce back” to her pre-baby body like other fitness influencers, but she ignored it.
“I think that there was probably the expectation that I would, considering so many other women in the fitness industry bounced back so quickly in the past,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, if you’re one of those people that bounced back straight after giving birth — that’s fantastic. But that simply wasn’t my reality and the case for many other women out there.”
Skye added: “I’ve never looked at what other fitness women on Instagram do and try to compare myself with them. I just focus on what I’m doing and try to be as honest and open with my followers about my experiences as I can.”
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