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While surfing online over the weekend, I ran across a few photos of a certain public figure in a swimsuit, showing off her curves, looking and feeling beautiful. Many of the people who commented on the images complimented her on her look and said she was body and fitness inspiration. But there were also people who called out her obvious use of photo editing and accused her of having surgery that she hadn’t been forthcoming about based on pictures from a few years back. What was one person’s “goals” was another person’s fraud.

Blac Chyna body fitness goals

Getty

I was reminded of these pictures today when I ran across a post on an Instagram page I follow called Afrogirlfitness. They shared video of Blac Chyna working out, which she’d shared on her own social media, but made sure to disable comments for. Of course, Chyna, who spoke about her post-baby weight loss and fitness goals after having Dream Kardashian, was put on blast by former fiancé Rob Kardashian during his infamous online rant recently. He shared video of her on her way to get cosmetic surgery, which he claimed he paid for, accusing her of being a fake and phony. By sharing her workout video, it seems she wanted to prove that while she’d received some help to get her famous figure, it was her own hard work that had held it together then and now:

When Afrogirlfitness shared the video with a message about about cosmetic surgery not being a replacement for exercise, their followers had a mixed reaction to Chyna. Some said that she didn’t deserve a space on a page centered around celebrating women who get fit and fabulous through hard work and making life changes.

“Surgery is definitely a personal decision, and I’m all here for physical improvement that gives people more confidence,” one said. “But pleaseeeeeee don’t try to tell me she’s ‘fitness goals’ or her body is equal to the next woman who did hers without it.”

“Really? Ok girl. Ima keep doing Body Sculpt classes, Pure barre, running, walking, and eating healthy,” another wrote. “As I work my way towards longevity and living out my days not having to maintain some body enhancements.”

While I could understand the frustration of some, I had to be honest with myself: If I had money and something I wanted to upgrade about myself, I can’t say 100 percent that I wouldn’t have surgery. As a woman with breasts that aren’t as perky as I would like, a little lift never hurt anybody. But even if I did change something about myself, I would still understand the importance of working out. One can nip and tuck all they want, but if you’re inactive and eat bad, you’re wasting your money and your body. Surgeries can’t build and sustain muscle, folks, so I’ll give Chyna that.

But the real issue that bothers most is the fact that it’s the individuals who want to sell us flat tummy teas and pipe dreams about their bodies who like to keep it a secret that they’ve had work done, and yet, want to give advice on how to get and stay in shape. If they were honest about it, I think they would receive a lot more credit and a lot less kickback. Would they serve as your fitness inspiration? Maybe not. But at least you could respect where they were coming from, respect the work ethic they do have in the gym, and it wouldn’t take away from the fact that they look great — surgery or not.

However, claiming you gained your body the old-fashioned way when that’s definitely not the case is not only coming for the pockets of fans who believe a drink or a waist trainer will be the game changer they can afford to try, but it also creates unhealthy standards for other women. These are standards encouraging many to still sit in basements getting dangerous butt injections. And while it’s no surprise that these women are getting work done, the influx of images of these individuals can still send the wrong message. And it’s especially sad when there are people who put in the work and effort, who started out high on the scale like many of us trying to make a change and could be the encouragement we all really need, but don’t receive or have access to platforms to share their message.

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