Model bullied for having thick legs uncovers health issue
A model has shared her battle with an incurable condition that causes struggles when walking – saying evil bullies call her “penguin.” Victoria Matosa 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. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-08-10 20:15
Trump's co-defendants set to enter pleas on new charges in classified documents case
A Mar-a-Lago property manager and former President Donald Trump's personal aide are set to be arraigned Thursday morning in Fort Pierce, Florida, on new charges brought by the special counsel in the case regarding the mishandling of classified documents.
2023-08-10 17:16
Flat Earther claims entire continents containing 'aliens' are being kept secret
Flat Earth conspiracy theorist David Weiss has now claimed aliens live in hidden parts of the Earth. Weiss initially wanted to disprove flat earth but then became part of the conspiracy. On a podcast with James English he explained: "I was doing really well and I'm looking into this flat earth thing and I said 'oh it's so stupid, of course we know the Earth is not flat. I mean how could it be flat? This is crazy what about all the other planets?" "But then I uh tried to disprove flat earth. I'm gonna prove all you flat earthers to be dum-dums and I'm just gonna be done with it, and that's how you become a flat earther." He explained that his biggest turning point was discovering a map - said to have been made in Tibet tens of thousands of years ago - that shows our familiar continents surrounded by a ring of ice. Beyond the ring are new contents and lands, with names such as Hapis and Thoth The Moving Island. Weiss asked, "all those extra continents, what's going on out there?" Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Instead of extraterrestrials from outer space visiting our planet, Weiss believes that any unknown creatures that have been spotted have instead come from the lands beyond the ring of ice. Adding that UFOs are clearly from a base in these secret lands. "If there are people that live out there and they came to visit us, you might consider them an extraterrestrial from outer space." "Space travel is nonsense because space doesn't exist - but if they're coming from the outer lands they're right here." Weiss also stated that the discovery of the secret land helps explain the question many flat earthers are frequently asked, which is - why would anyone try to hide the shape of the planet? "It's to control the human race," he explained. "Your thoughts create the world that you're in - and if they can limit your thoughts they can put you in the Matrix. The heliocentric system, the globe, is a matrix. It's a matrix for your mind and it limits your thoughts." The Earth is Flat and Aliens Live Among Us - David Weiss Tells His Story www.youtube.com He also added that the sun, moon, and are planets are "sentient", and does not believe the sun to be a huge ball of gas in space, but in fact a living entity. The idea of the moon being sentient explains, for Weiss, why the moon landing is fake, saying "there's so many issues" and that cameras "wouldn't even work on the moon." And in fact, the moon landing was a ploy "to keep you believing the lie" that the Earth is flat." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-08-07 22:16
US weighing proposal to put troops on commercial vessels to prevent Iranian seizures
The US is considering putting troops on commercial vessels in critical Middle East waterways to prevent Iranian seizures, a US official familiar with the plans said Thursday, a decision that could bring US and Iranian forces closer to direct confrontation.
2023-08-04 09:26
Foreign Office 'failed to protect' Matthew Hedges from UAE torture
The Parliamentary Ombudsman rules that the Foreign Office failed to protect Matthew Hedges.
2023-08-03 19:15
Could Trump go to prison and other key questions
What are the charges, how serious are they and could Donald Trump still run for president from jail?
2023-08-02 21:56
Explainer-Who allegedly conspired with Trump to overturn the 2020 election?
By Jacqueline Thomsen, Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON Donald Trump allegedly conspired with six other allies
2023-08-02 11:18
Who are the Trump co-conspirators in the 2020 election interference indictment?
The historic indictment against Donald Trump in the special counsel's probe into January 6, 2021, and efforts to overturn the 2020 election says that he "enlisted co-conspirators to assist him in his criminal efforts."
2023-08-02 07:55
Saudi Wealth Fund Hires Banks for Second Bond Sale This Year
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has hired banks for a debut Islamic dollar bond sale to help finance
2023-08-01 21:48
Nuclear Barbenheimer memes have caused upset in Japan
Barbenheimer is the cinematic event of the year, but not everybody is happy about the discourse surrounding both Barbie and Oppenheimer. In fact, there’s been a backlash on social media in Japan following the release of promotional material for both films, and it’s led to the #NoBarbenheimer hashtag trending. Things came to a head when a US account for the Barbie movie responded to a graphic of both Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy in their respective movies with the caption: “It’s going to be a summer to remember.” The tweet now appears to have been deleted. This month marks 78 years since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan remains the only country to have suffered the use of nuclear weapons during wartime. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Oppenheimer isn’t banned in Japan but it has yet to receive a release date, and the social media backlash has caused the Japanese arm of Warner Bros. to respond to the criticism [via South China Morning Post]. Warner Bros. Japan LLC posted a statement on the official Japanese account for Barbie saying it was “highly regrettable” that the film took part in the “Barbenheimer” discourse in an inappropriate manner. The company also stated it was not connected to the meme and added that it was seeking “an appropriate response” from its US parent company. It comes as the release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer generated a flurry of interest in the man behind the atomic bomb, Julius Robert Oppenheimer. The film tells the story of the physicist and his role in the Manhattan Project, which was the codename given to the development of the A-bomb. The first bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. It killed tens of thousands of people. A second bomb fell days later on the city of Nagasaki. Historians believe more than 200,000 people died as a result of the events, with millions more severely affected. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-08-01 19:24
Mar-a-Lago property manager scheduled to appear in court in classified documents case
Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager and newest co-defendant in the special counsel's criminal case charging former President Donald Trump and his staff with mishandling classified information, is scheduled to make his initial appearance in a Miami courtroom on Monday.
2023-07-31 20:15
Denmark Could Ban Koran Burnings That Insult Muslims
Denmark will explore possible legal grounds to block public burnings of the Koran as the Nordic country tries
2023-07-31 18:50