Acceptance of your body is often a very long and challenging journey. Virtually everyone has something that they're dissatisfied about—therefore, acceptance of one's own image is a virtue in and of itself. Everyone has body image issues, but not everyone has been successful in tackling them. Antonia Livers is no exception to these issues. What's an exception, though, is how she handled it, and how she found her way and persevered.
Antonia began developing white patches on her eyelids when she was just 14 years old, an age when almost everyone becomes sensitive to how they look. Soon enough, she was diagnosed with vitiligo, a skin condition that causes a lack of melanin in the skin, forming white patches. Over time, the patches get larger and spread throughout the body. Naturally, Antonia was devastated to get diagnosed with this condition, spent hours and hours crying over what she looked like, and worked hard to hide it from others and herself.
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Meet Antonia Livers from Utah, USA, and she has vitiligo
Image credits: toni_dino
She began to work out in her teenage years after she's been diagnosed with vitiligo, which she avoided to show
Image credits: toni_dino
She shared with Bored Panda about her first reactions to being diagnosed with vitiligo: "I knew from the beginning what it is, because my auntie has it too. So I wasn't happy about it, but I also wasn't super upset until it started growing when I was about 15 or 16. And that's when I started getting upset about it."
Image credits: toni_dino
"I started to work out when I was about 18, because I couldn't do basketball anymore because I had hip dysplasia on both sides."
As her vitiligo progressed, she learned to accept her own body as it is
Image credits: toni_dino
As her teen years and vitiligo progressed, the girl from Utah began developing a passion for fitness, which has helped her regain confidence in her body. "I learned to accept it with time, and after time, I appreciated what I look like and who I am to lastly love myself for all I am." Seeing how it affects her, she dove even deeper into the gym and took up weightlifting.
Fitness has helped her regain confidence in her body
Image credits: toni_dino
She has shared some wisdom with those, who only begin working out. "For people who are just starting to work out, you definitely need to make sure you have help on your journey because in the beginning, there so many things that you can do wrong. Following a structured plan is definitely the key to doing the right thing. Don't start out at 110 percent, as that will come later on, just ease into it, get your body used to it, and go from there, step by step."
Image credits: toni_dino
Vitiligo is a condition that causes loss of melanin on skin, causing white patches
Image credits: toni_dino
"I learned to accept it with time and love myself for who I am"
Image credits: toni_dino
Image credits: toni_dino
As her confidence rose, she delved into weightlifting
Image credits: toni_dino
Image credits: toni_dino
Image credits: toni_dino
Image credits: toni_dino
And tried competing in bodybuilding competition
Image credits: toni_dino
Image credits: toni_dino
"Actually, I never was a bodybuilder. I did one bodybuilding competition for the experience."
She's pretty comfortable with who she is right now
Image credits: toni_dino
Fast forward to now, she has worked out a pretty comfortable and happy life for herself. With years of experience in the gym, she has become a fitness trainer. Not only that, as she's also constantly lifting weights, is a regularly competing bodybuilder, and also a model, who confidently shows off her beauty on Instagram with a solid followership of 35k. She has become an admirable example of positivity to those who struggle with their body image, and an inspiration to everyone seeking to get better. And for this, we applaud her.
Image credits: toni_dino
And she uses her experience when working as a fitness trainer
Image credits: toni_dino
She has also told us how lockdown affected her routine. "The lockdown definitely affected my workout routine, but I didn't let it affect me. Which means I shifted from gym workouts to home workouts. We bought weights, dumbbells, kettlebells, we had resistance bands, so we kept working out, went out for runs, etc. We just adjusted and didn't give up."
Image credits: toni_dino
Image credits: toni_dino
Image credits: toni_dino