Gigi Hadid, who is undoubtedly one of the most popular catwalk queens in the recent times, has opened up about how her shape reflected following the diagnosis of Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disorder.
In an interview with Blake Lively for the May cover story of Harper's Bazaar, Hadid gets candid about her weight loss, body shaming trolls, and the reality of retouched images.
"If I could choose, I would have my ass back and I would have the tits I had a few years ago. But, honestly, we can't look back with regret. I loved my body then, and I love my body now," Hadid told Lively. "Whoever is reading this, I want you to realize that three years from now, you will look back at a picture from this time period and be like: 'Wow, I was so hot. Why did I feel so bad about myself because of some stupid thing someone said?'"
She has been very candid about her gradual weight loss while firing back at the body shamers who called her "too skinny".
"Most of it is just nonsense. But it can still hurt. Nowadays, people are quick to say, 'I used to love Gigi's body, and now she just gave in,'" said the 22-year-old.
The supermodel further explained her struggle with the body transformation to the Gossip Girl actress as she has been diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease.
"But I'm not skinny because I gave in to the industry. When I had a more athletic figure, I was proud of my body because I was an amazing volleyball player and horseback rider," Gigi said. "But after discovering that I have Hashimoto's [an autoimmune disease], I needed to eat healthily and work out. It was weird as a teenager, dealing with this when all of my friends could eat McDonald's and it wouldn't affect them."
What is Hashimoto's disease?
This autoimmune disease, which is also known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, is a disorder in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland. Inflammation from the disease often leads to hypothyroidism and the thyroid does not produce enough hormones for the body.
Hence, it easily affects the metabolism in the body as thyroid hormones control BMI (Basic Metabolism Rate). And, it also affects one's heart rate and some of the other body functions.
Besides all these, both Blake and Gigi also discussed the power of retouched images these days — how just a click turns all the imperfections into perfections.
While Blake said, "It's so important for young people not to compare themselves with what they see online. It's our job as actors and/or models to be in shape. We have access to gyms and trainers and healthy food. And then on top of that, 99.9 percent of the time, the images are photoshopped. I'm guilty myself of being at a photo shoot and saying, 'That looks terrible on me.' And they're like, 'We'll fix it.' And you're so relieved," Gigi shared, "It's my experience that your body will grow and change, and there's always beauty in it, no matter what."
