A model has shared her battle with an incurable condition that causes struggles when walking – saying evil bullies call her “penguin.”
Victoria Matos used to work out tirelessly in the gym but didn’t notice any results, leaving her feeling deflated.
She had no idea that a health condition was standing in the way of her fitness progress.
At school, the influencer , who now has 4.3 million followers on Instagram (@soyvictoriamatosa ), was bullied for the appearance of her “thick” legs, with peers giving her cruel nicknames.
Feeling too “ashamed” to leave the house and wear certain clothes, such as shorts, Victoria sought out medical advice and was diagnosed with lipedema, an incurable disease that causes abnormal fatty deposits to build up unevenly in the body.
Now, the 26-year-old is hoping to raise awareness about the condition and help others accept themselves.
“I always had thick legs but it started to get worse after [I started getting] my period [and] I couldn’t even wear shorts outside the house, I felt too ashamed,” Victoria told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“I started to avoid going to the beach and only [wore] leggings and jeans, which made me very uncomfortable, [as well as] distancing myself from friends out of embarrassment.
“Due to bullying and pressure to always be doing a lot of exercise to lose weight, I tried many restrictive diets, which resulted in me binge-eating.
“I [used to] spend three hours in the gym until I reached exhaustion, giving up and then eating compulsively.”
Victoria, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was diagnosed in February 2023.
Since then, she has experienced “heavy pain” in her swollen, inflamed legs, as well as feeling very tired in the knees.
While “relieved” to finally have an answer for her unusual symptoms, she’s also been left sad knowing that the only options are to either have surgery or go on a restricted diet for the rest of her life.
The influencer said: “It was a mixture of feelings – before, I blamed myself for not being able to lose weight in my legs, even working out intensely.
“Now, I go to the gym and have an anti-inflammatory diet, but I don’t feel ready to [have an] operation, as I’d have to do three liposuctions.
“I feel sad and discouraged with each passing day [but] I try to accept and love myself more.”
While sharing her health battle online, Victoria has received lots of praise but has also experienced her fair share of verbal “attacks”.
She added: “I’ve already suffered a lot of bullying on the internet, people didn’t like me because of my weight and my body.
“I got tired of receiving messages of curses that only had the objective of hurting me.
“This continues to be routine in my life, only different than before, because I don’t let these people make me feel like a monster.
“In my love life, I’ve been very lucky.
“I haven’t dated much but the relationships I have had never had insecurities with my body and they [my partners] made me feel very secure about myself.
“I want to be able to help other women, because after revealing lipedema on Instagram, I had several reports from women who felt bad and didn’t know they had this.”
