'This body beat cancer': Biggest Loser trainer Erica Lugo HITS BACK at cruel comments over her 'loose skin' in recent bikini selfie

She champions contestants to reach their fitness goals as a trainer on the USA Network reality series The Biggest Loser.

But Erica Lugo, 33, was forced to champion for herself on Wednesday after she received an influx of Instagram comments criticizing her for not having 'six pack abs' or 'the most toned upper body' in a recent bikini selfie.

'Instead I have loose skin from losing 150 lbs. and having a baby. Instead It's harder for me to lose and tone because I had and beat thyroid cancer,' wrote Lugo in the post seen her nearly 700,000 followers.

Erica originally weighed 322 pounds following the birth of her now 10-year-old son Connor.

She explained that because of the cancer treatments she endured her 'body doesn't process hormones like a "normal" hormonal regulation system should.'

Erica emphasized that just because her body may not comply with the rigid societal standards for female aesthetics, that does not mean she deserves criticism.

'That does NOT mean my value is less. That does NOT mean I’m not strong. That does NOT mean I’m not worth something. That does NOT mean I can’t help, inspire, motivate and educate.'

Instead, she wants commenters to 'let people be proud of their bodies in progress.'

'We are all trying to be happier, stronger and better versions of ourselves and how we chose to show or acknowledge that is up to US. Not YOU,' concluded Erica.

Erica has been sharing various bathing suit pictures to her Instagram this week, while vacationing in North Carolina with her husband.

In Monday's bikini post, she admitted that she spent 'too many years never wearing bikinis because [she] felt [she] shouldn't' because she does not 'have a bikini body' similar to those seen on Instagram.

For the post, Lugo created a side-by-side comparison between her 322 pound self and her current self to show off her impressive progress. 

In her bikini snapshot, the successful trainer donned a royal blue bandeau top and pair of daisy dukes as she posed in front of a bathroom mirror.  

'But ya know what? This body lost 150 lbs. This body created life. This body beat cancer. This body is working through an auto immune disorder.'

Erica learned of her stage two cancer diagnosis after getting injured in a car accident sometime last year. 

'This body is worthy despite society standards and my own negative self-chat and it felt good to slip on a bikini for the first time in years and truly be COMFORTABLE,' concluded Erica in her passionate rant. 

She joined the cast of trainers of The Biggest Loser in 2019 and believes that she was able to relate to the contestants due to her own weight struggles.

'So many people always ask, and I tell them, "Don’t let that be the thing that stops you." If you scroll through my Instagram, I’m like, yeah, here’s my stretch marks and here’s my loose skin. This is who I am and that’s my story, so I just own it,' said Erica in a statement to People.

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