Jessy Mendiola opens up about depression over body-shaming following FHM win

After being voted FHM Philippines' sexiest woman in 2016, Jessy Mendiola should have been on top of the world.

Instead, the actress went into a bit of a funk after being body-shamed by netizens.

Jessy opened up about the experience in an Instagram post this week.

"I was bullied, body shamed with bashers calling me names like 'pata, baboy, taba, etc.' while others said I didn’t deserve to win the title cos I’m waaaaaay bigger than the other girls who they thought should’ve won," she wrote.

"I felt really down and started losing my confidence. I loved myself then (big thighs, belly rolls and round face) but when people started pointing out my flaws, I started hating myself, at times even thinking I was a bad person for having 'thunder thighs,'" she added.

 

So... I’m gonna post about this because a lot of people asked me to. Not to show off or anything, but rather to inspire. I’ve always thought of myself as really strong and fit, yes, even on the picture on the left. I worked out regularly (weights and all), ate what I felt was good for me and you know what? It felt good, I was happy. When I won FHM’s sexiest woman in 2016, I thought... finally, people appreciate my efforts and my body. But I was wrong. I was bullied, body shamed with bashers calling me names like “pata, baboy, taba, etc.” while others said I didn’t deserve to win the title cos I’m waaaaaay bigger than the other girls who they thought should’ve won. I felt really down and started losing my confidence. I loved myself then (big thighs, belly rolls and round face) but when people started pointing out my flaws, I started hating myself, at times even thinking I was a bad person for having “thunder thighs”. I stopped working out, I got depressed, binge ate my feelings off and started gaining more weight than I should. I didn’t even want to be seen on TV anymore, I started turning down roles and it affected my work. Then I realized, why should I feel so bad about myself when I loved myself even before i was called “sexiest”. I thought of myself as sexy, strong ang beautiful in my own way. I started building myself up again despite what other people say (until now they call me names) and have lost 15 lbs since. I learned to eat moderately and exercise to feel good, to be energized rather than by punishing myself for eating chocolates or that blueberry muffin. I started accepting my built and switched my work out according to my body type (Hi @bodybymamakat and mama @nadinetengco love you both ????????). I still see myself as the “pata girl” and it’s okay, it is just a matter of perspective. When I decided to shift perspective, everything started falling into place. I may not be the sexiest for others, but I am sexy and beautiful for myself, that alone is enough. Shout out to every “pata girl” out there, just keep going. Love yourself, love your body and it will love you back. TRUST ME. ?? #thunderthighs #patagirl #pataislife #pataforevs

A post shared by Jessy Mendiola (@senorita_jessy) on

Mar 11, 2018 at 9:35pm PDT

"I stopped working out, I got depressed, binge ate my feelings off and started gaining more weight than I should. I didn’t even want to be seen on TV anymore, I started turning down roles and it affected my work," she added.

But Jessy was able to turn things around by realizing the things that bashers said didn't matter.

"I started building myself up again despite what other people say (until now they call me names) and have lost 15 lbs since. I learned to eat moderately and exercise to feel good, to be energized rather than by punishing myself for eating chocolates or that blueberry muffin," she said.

"I started accepting my built and switched my work out according to my body type... I still see myself as the “pata girl” and it’s okay, it is just a matter of perspective. When I decided to shift perspective, everything started falling into place. I may not be the sexiest for others, but I am sexy and beautiful for myself, that alone is enough. Shout out to every “pata girl” out there, just keep going. Love yourself, love your body and it will love you back. TRUST ME. ?? #thunderthighs #patagirl #pataislife #pataforevs" —JST, GMA News