Instagram Star Anna Victoria Shares Inspiring Secrets To Transforming Your Body

Not every "transformation" is about the looks, and fitness is about more than how it looks, as Instagram fitness star Anna Victoria, best known for her 12-week FIT Body Guides, made clear in a "transformation" photo she posted on Instagram yesterday. An article published in Daily Mail outlined the Instagram star's fitness journey and her body-positive message, which insists that her transformation was more about how she felt on the inside than how she looked on the outside.

The side-by-side Anna Victoria posted is a recent photo of herself and a photo of herself five years ago, when she first began her fitness journey. In the post, she emphasised that she was not focused on how she looked, but on how differently she felt about herself. "While I'm happy with the physical changes I've worked so hard for, they don't compare to the non-physical changes that aren't visible to the naked eye," wrote the fitness guru in her recent post. "There's always room for physical improvement and there's always someone who looks better than you, and those two facts can be freaking exhausting if it's all you're concerned with."

My "transformation" 💗 Sometimes I don't like calling it that because I was never unhappy with the way I looked to begin with. * My transformation was more about how I felt on the inside, about my health, and that's not something I can show you in a picture. Nevertheless, instagram is a visual platform and we are visual creatures so here we are. While I'm happy with the physical changes I've worked so hard for, they don't compare to the non-physical changes that aren't visible to the naked eye. Those non-physical changes are what keep me going. There's always room for physical improvement and there's always someone who looks better than you, and those two facts can be freaking exhausting if it's all you're concerned with. It can put you in a constant state of wanting to restrict food more, work out more, and if you're not careful, lead to an unhealthy obsession and relationship with workouts and with food. That's not what I want for me or for any one of you. * The before photo was in November 2012, so nearly 5 years ago. Could someone see progress in less time? Of course, and I did see significant progress not long after this 'before' photo. My transformation didn't take 5 years, it took about 9 months. I do set goals and push myself, but I've always been overly conscious of maintaining balance and never letting fitness take over my life. These last 5 years I've been pushing myself but I've also been living my life, enjoying vacations and cheat meals and completely indulging and having no regrets. I don't work out to punish myself for eating ice cream and I don't restrict myself if I feel I want to relax a bit. I DO however keep in mind how food affects me mentally and emotionally and that's what keeps me eating as healthy as I do. * Do I have people telling me I should be more lean? Yes. That I could gain more muscle? Yes. But I'm not concerned with other people's ideas of what I should or shouldn't do with my body. I'm doing what I want which is to kick ass in the gym, be empowered by my workouts and feeling strong, but still enjoy life and to value balance above rock hard abs or a lower body fat percentage. #fbggirls www.annavictoria.com/guides

Anna Victoria is a stand-out in a heavily saturated world of Instagram fitness stars because of how real she is with her followers. She is known for posting photos of how cellulite can appear or disappear depending on the lighting and for strongly supporting cheat meals and not depriving oneself of the things you love, which is refreshing. She's also very real in this most recent post with her personal transformation. "My transformation didn't take 5 years, it took about 9 months. I do set goals and push myself, but I've always been overly conscious of maintaining balance and never letting fitness take over my life."

Check out some more inspiring photos and insights from her fitness journey below.

🙌 #fbggirls #makeithappenmarch www.annavictoria.com/guides

🤗👙🌴 #fbggirls www.annavictoria.com/guides

Arms + Abs with a Bosu Ball! 💪 These moves, especially the second one, made my abs SO sore! The key is to really focus on balancing from side to side using your core strength to support the movement. Tag a friend to try these! 👯#fitbodyguide You can download my 12 week FBG guides at www.annavictoria.com/guides

💗 #fbggirls www.annavictoria.com/guides

This article originally appeared on Men's Health