Fitness Trainer Shares Contrasting Side-By-Side Photos Of Her Toned Abs AND Her Sagging Stomach

Fitness trainer shares contrasting side-by-side photos of her toned abs AND her sagging stomach - in snaps taken just ONE minute apart - to urge other women to stop chasing 'perfection'

• Janelle Flanagan , a 40-year-old mother-of-four from New Jersey, shared the photos on Instagram with her 40,000 followers
• In the first, she has super-muscular abs, and in the second, her skin hangs and looks dimpled with cellulite
• She often posts comparisons like this to show that both versions are the truth, and cellulite is not a flaw

Another Instagram fitness star has taken to the social media platform to dispel myths about the 'perfect' body.

Janelle Flanagan, a 40-year-old mother-of-four from New Jersey, has nearly 40,000 followers who tune in for her work-out videos, inspirational posts, and muscle pictures. But though she is, undoubtedly, very toned, she admits that it takes studied posing to take the perfect Instagram snap.

To prove this, the NASM Certified Personal Trainer has taken to posting 'before' and 'after' shots of herself flaunting her cellulite and toned abs — which are taken mere minutes apart.





Truth: Janelle Flanagan, 40, shared these photos of herself taken a minute apart to show that she has abs and cellulite




Relateable: The New Jersey mom and personal trainer often shares these kinds of honest posts on Instagram

On Wednesday, she posted one such pair of pictures. In the first, taken at 8:04 pm, she is seen lifting up her shirt, leaning back, and flexing her super-toned abs.

In the next photo, taken at 8:05 pm, her shirt is still up, but she is leaning forward. Her stomach no longer looks toned, but is hanging a bit and dimpled all over with cellulite.

'I used to look at that hang, that cellulite, and be really upset,' she admitted. But two years ago, she decided to post a picture of it, despite her insecurities.

'I knew I'd be shunned. People would have something to say. But I felt like I HAD to share it even if only ONE person related to it,' she said.

'I was afraid. And I was afraid because I didn't know how it would be received. There was no one I was following putting anything like it out there. I knew it was me.



She shows how posing and flexing can make a big difference in how you look



Touching others: She said she used to be embarrassed by the way her stomach hangs, but isn't anymore

'What I also knew was that I needed that ONE person to relate to ME as much as SHE needed to SEE it,' she went on. 'My gut knew it was normal, but my fear was that I would get a lot of heat from it. So when people post their vulnerabilities, know that sometimes WE need YOU as much as YOU need to hear something from us. I'm so grateful to ALL of you.'

Since that first post, she's shared lots of pictures like this. In May, she posted a side-by-side comparison of herself 'flexed' and 'relaxed af', taken a minute apart. In one snap she has rock-hard abs, in the other she could be bloated.

Another set shows her standing and sitting in the same outfit, with the sitting picture revealing cellulite on her legs.

'I don't need FIXING. I'm NOT BROKEN,' she wrote. 'It seems to be super hard for some to understand that I have ZERO intention to try and "remove" my cellulite with products. That it's more important to me to love myself the way I am, as I NATURALLY work on myself.'



She also showed how her legs are strong and muscular but she still has cellulite when she sits



Janelle has earned 40,000 followers on Instagram, who love her posts

In fact, she went on, many companies even offer to send her their anti-cellulite products for free so that she'll test them out on her page — which she always refuses.

'Why is it socially [acceptable] to bombard someone about looking better at all?' she asked. 'Are we so programmed to see my flaws and it makes people think I need "fixing"?'

She understands that it's hard with all of the images that people see on social media, writing in another post, 'Ever feel like will I EVER look like that? That model, that girl on [Instagram] who lost all that weight.'

'"That" is a frozen STILL image,' she said. 'It's a photo in a magazine, a fit model, a Photoshopped image or a woman living a very different life.'



This month, 35-year-old Celena Kinsey shared these pictures to show what bloating does to her body


Earlier this week, Celena Kinsey, a Washington, D.C.-based Instagram fitness star, shared snaps of herself at night and the very next day to show what bloating can do to a person's body.

'Sharing a photo like this is never easy because when you're bloated you feel pretty down on yourself and you're uncomfortable in your own skin,' the 35-year-old wrote. 'But I'm sharing this to show that you’re not alone, and that we all have things that we're battling and that's normal.'



Earlier this year, Anna Victoria also demonstrated how angles make a major difference

And in January, Fit Body Guides creator Anna Victoria, 28, earned over 350,000 likes for her honest post about how different her body looks in different positions.

In one of the pictures, she is standing and looks slim as can be, but in the next she is sitting and appears to have small stomach rolls.

'Good or bad angles don't change your worth,' she wrote. 'As I'm getting older, I have cellulite and stretch marks that aren't going away, and I welcome them.

'This body is strong, can run miles, can lift and squat and push and pull weight around, and it's happy not just because of how it looks, but because of how it feels,' she said.

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