Victoria Matosa, hailing from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, faced taunts of being called a “penguin” due to her robust legs’ walking style.

She said: “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. 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.”

In February 2023, she embraced self-acceptance upon being diagnosed with Lipoedema, realizing her leg swelling was beyond her control.

Addressing potential surgery down the line, the model added about the online trolls, “Due to bullying and pressure to always be doing a lot of exercises 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.”

After enduring bullying for her thick legs, Victoria Matosa has taken empowering strides on her path to self-acceptance, ultimately achieving success as a model.

She continued, “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.”

Her path to self-acceptance has been challenging, marked by hurtful remarks from trolls. Despite this, she strives to brush them aside.

“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 with 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,” said Victoria.

According to DailyStar, Victoria remains committed to raising awareness about her condition, and she elaborated on this, “I want to be able to help other women because after revealing Lipoedema on Instagram, I had several reports from women who felt bad and didn’t know they had this.”

Presently, the model commands a following of 4.3 million on Instagram, showcasing captivating modeling snapshots.