A formerly obese teenager has pursued a modelling career after losing almost half of her body weight – and she now thanks her tormentors for shaping her.
Angelina Denk, from Eitorf, Germany, has always labelled herself an open-minded person despite being constantly bullied for six years by her school peers.
"During school time, let's say from age 12 until 18, people used to bully me, saying bad things and all that stuff,” Angelina told the Mirror.
The 23-year-old’s unpleasant school years contributed to her constant weight loss and gain which eventually led to the point of her basically starving herself.
"There is one time I remember the most. One boy in my school stabbed a pencil in my belly very hard and told me it can't hurt because I'm fat,” she says.
But even when she lost weight, her physique left the brunette beauty feeling self-conscious and extremely unhappy.
“I was not thin like now, but I slipped into an eating disorder due to not eating anything,” she told the Daily Mail.
Desperately trying to gain a bit of weight, Angelina decided to start eating more and by 2015 the plus-size model tipped the scale at an unhealthy 114 kg – the heaviest she’d ever been.
“So, after I started eating again, I gained everything back and I reached my heaviest weight by losing weight in an unhealthy way.”
A nasty remark about the thickness of her thighs from a close relative saw the university student go on to lose an incredible 69 kg in only two years.
"I was inspired by my own body as I started working out; seeing results week by week. I was overwhelmed by how my body was transforming and what my body is capable of,” says the German native.
Since her astonishing transformation, body-confident Angelina has appeared on a German television show called Curvy Supermodel, the equivalent to America’s Next Top Model but for stunning plus-size women.
"I was in the Top 30 from over thousands of candidates," says a proud Angelina.
Angelina says she has an intense Cross Fit workout regimine to thank for her smaller frame, but diet, as well as the timing of her meals, has had a huge impact as well.
"I just have my timings, I have two meals a day; one at around four to five o'clock in the afternoon and the second one at around nine to ten in the evening,” she says.
Angelina, who now admits to having a healthier mindset, says she forgives her tormentors and encourages other people never to give up on themselves.
“I'm forgiving and I'm thankful to them because they shaped me," says Angelina.
"Do it for yourself and never give up. If you work on yourself; you can become whatever you want and of' course you can make your dreams come true.”
Sources: mirror.co.uk, independent.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk