Fitness Competitor Strikes Back at Body Shamers

Fit mom of four Sophie Guidolin has earned plenty of admirers for her ripped body, but she still deals with critics who try to skinny shame her, and accuse her of having an eating disorder.

The Gold Coast, Australia-based fitness competitor fired back at her doubters in a post on her website.

“A lot of people confuse my images (and every other ‘fit’ chick) with being ‘skinny,’ ” Guidolin writes, “this is a term that I try really hard to distance from my self as I am strong, I am lean and I am FIT. I am not ‘skinny.’ ”

Guidolin says that people incorrectly assume that she doesn’t eat.

“Comments range from telling me to eat a burger (which I make no secret that grill’d is our go to takeaway!) right through to diagnosing me with an illness,” she says. “In my case, I am the strongest I have ever been, I FEEL so energetic, I achieve so much in my days, I have amazing sleep at night times, my hair is thick, my skin is clear and I am fit. None of these statements is how you would describe a person with an ED [Eating Disorder].”

Guidolin’s goal is to teach people that you don’t need to starve yourself to get fit.

“I want to educate people — the difference is HUGE and by changing this stigma I KNOW that I can help a lot of people who think that losing fat IS by starving themselves as all these uneducated comments suggest — which is so far from the truth!” she says.

“Love your bodies, fuel your body and workout because it makes you FEEL great, fit and strong- not because you hate the way you look.”

This article originally appeared on People.com