Lindsey Vonn on her struggles with body image when she started mixing with celebrities

She regularly shares bikini snaps to social media, but Lindsey Vonn wasn’t always so body confident. 

The retired Olympic skier opened up about her struggle with body image in a podcast Tuesday, revealing that her perception about herself changed when she found herself in the media spotlight after winning a gold medal at the Olympics in 2010.

‘While it may seem like I’ve always been comfortable with who I am, I definitely have not always felt that,’ she confessed on TB12’s The Keep Going Podcast.

‘I had a heard time’: Lindsey Vonn is opening up about having body confidence struggles after she was thrust into the spotlight after her 2010 Olympic win. She is seen here in December 2020

‘I had a hard time after I won the Olympics because I was taken outside my ski bubble and put in this entertainment and celebrity bubble and around people that were half my size.

‘I was like, “Am I supposed to look like this?”‘ the 36-year-old added. ‘I had never compared myself really to others.’

The Minnesota born star says that while she feels good about herself these days, it’s been a journey. 

‘I had a really hard time with it but in the last couple years I’ve figured it out,’ she said.

Strong: Vonn, seen in a recent bikini snap, is clearly comfortable in her own skin, but it wasn't always that way

Strong: Vonn, seen in a recent bikini snap, is clearly comfortable in her own skin, but it wasn’t always that way

'I had a hard time after I won the Olympics because I was taken outside my ski bubble and put in this entertainment and celebrity bubble and around people that were half my size. Seen here in 2010

'I had a hard time after I won the Olympics because I was taken outside my ski bubble and put in this entertainment and celebrity bubble and around people that were half my size.' Seen here in 2010

‘I had a hard time after I won the Olympics because I was taken outside my ski bubble and put in this entertainment and celebrity bubble and around people that were half my size.’

‘I am who I am. I feel like I’ve never conformed my personality or my style but for positive body image, I definitely struggled with that.

‘I have cellulite, I have stretch marks. I work out every single day and I still have all those things and they’re not going away,’ she added. ‘So it’s like, this is me, take it or leave it.’

When podcast host and TB12 CEO John Burn asked what advice Vonn had for parents of young girls struggling with their own body image, Vonn said they should be encouraged to ‘believe in themselves and embrace their uniqueness’.

'I had a really hard time with it but in the last couple years I've figured it out,' she said

‘I had a really hard time with it but in the last couple years I’ve figured it out,’ she said

'I am who I am. I feel like I've never conformed my personality or my style but for positive body image, I definitely struggled with that.' Lindsey said

‘I am who I am. I feel like I’ve never conformed my personality or my style but for positive body image, I definitely struggled with that.’ Lindsey said

'I have cellulite, I have stretch marks. I work out every single day and I still have all those things and they're not going away,' she added. 'So it's like, this is me, take it or leave it.'

‘I have cellulite, I have stretch marks. I work out every single day and I still have all those things and they’re not going away,’ she added. ‘So it’s like, this is me, take it or leave it.’

‘Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do in life, be confident in who you are,’ Vonn added.

Vonn previously talked about being body-shamed throughout her career when she would get comments about how muscular she was.

She says her body has changed since she retired from competitive skiing in 2019.

‘I’m a lot leaner,’ she told the New York Post’s Alexa magazine last month. ‘I used to do things that were so sport specific, so I had to be bigger. But everyone is like, “Oh my God, you’re in the best shape of your life.” It’s like — yes and no. I’m not training for my sport anymore, I am training to be lean and fit.’

Vonn encouraged other women to stay natural as she told PEOPLE in November: ‘You don’t need hair extensions or Botox or injections, just be yourself. With my dogs, they love me no matter what, and that’s how we should treat other humans,

‘That’s just how I see it.’ she added.

'You don't need hair extensions or Botox or injections, just be yourself. With my dogs, they love me no matter what, and that's how we should treat other humans,' Vonn said encouraging women to be themselves

‘You don’t need hair extensions or Botox or injections, just be yourself. With my dogs, they love me no matter what, and that’s how we should treat other humans,’ Vonn said encouraging women to be themselves