Social media innovator Jen Selter has not had an easy road to stardom. Though she has gained over 12 million followers on Instagram alone for being one of the leading influencers in the fitness world, Jen still wants her fans to know that she’s a “very insecure person” just like everyone else.

“It’s definitely hard with the pressure of looking so good on social media and you have to live up to that,” Jen exclusively shared to Life & Style at the LIMITLESS event, powered by Fitplan this weekend. “People do expect you to look a certain way, but I go through phases just like anyone else where before my period I’m going to eat a lot of food and bulk up a little bit and that’s OK.”

Jen takes to Instagram quite often to show off her amazingly toned body, carving the perfect picture of a very confident woman. In fact, she began sculpting her body since she graduated from high school. 

“I think I can win the award for being the complete opposite than my Instagram,” Jen joked — and she’s probably right! The fitness expert described herself as a “homebody” who doesn’t like to wear makeup often, but that hasn’t stopped haters from cyberbullying her online and calling her “ugly.”

Unfortunately, her vibrant social media presence has not made it any easier. Jen said that having more followers can actually make you feel more insecure.

“You want to know what? I’m even more bullied now than I was years ago because I’m on a public platform that didn’t exist in middle school,” she shockingly revealed. “I think that in the beginning, it was really hard, and that was when I would get all upset and just cry and then there was one day, I was like, I don’t know these people. They’re just trolls who hide behind their computers because they’re upset.”

Jen’s social media empire has given her the platform to be constantly judged in front of millions of people worldwide. Now, instead of being bullied by a couple of teenage girls, Jen has learned how to drown out her haters and not let their rude comments get to her. 

“I kind of realized that after you hear every word, it’s just like, tell me something I don’t know. I know I’m not a Victoria’s Secret model — I never said I was. I know I look like an animal, like cool. You know it just doesn’t bother you when you hear it so often.”

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What a beautiful day!! #Seltering in Bulgaria 😍

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As a leader in the fitness community, Jen wants her fans to know that they should all aim for a healthy lifestyle, but when it comes to looks and appearance, it’s “what’s on the inside” that counts — and we couldn’t agree more! She added, “If I’m motivating someone to go to the gym, then that makes me happy.”