As a Lady Gaga fan, I was losing my mind as the Super Bowl was approaching. I was trying to guess what songs she would sing and what order they would be in and how she was going to make a political statement. As she finally appeared on the field for her performance, I was in complete awe.I looked over to my boyfriend and said 'She looks incredible.' She was killing it and staying true to herself, which was so inspiring to me. I knew that as soon as I got on Twitter after the performance, there would be a ton of people smack talking her, but I assumed it would be for her being "too weird" or for being too "gay friendly" so you can imagine my shock when I saw she was being ridiculed for her stomach. People on Twitter were being relentless. My blood began to boil as I saw just how mean people can be to one someone they do not even know and two to someone who is very clearly not even close to being overweight.

If people would have taken the time to just look at Lady Gaga's Instagram, they would have seen that she was working out all the time, for months prior to the performance and in many interviews discussed how she was training like an athlete to be able to do this performance. Can you imagine someone criticizing you after you spent countless hours trying to avoid the exact thing they are criticizing you for? That would have completely destroyed me, but she is stronger than I am and took to Instagram to rise above those shaming her and vocally say she was proud of her body. (How can you not love her?)

When I saw the pictures of Gaga's stomach that were being criticized, I was so inspired. I struggle with carrying a small about of weight I can't shake in the exact same space that people were criticizing Gaga's body for. I work out. I do my best to eat healthily, but something about that area is just hard to shake. Not all of us can have perfectly cut abs no matter how hard we work for them. This is why I was outraged when so many people did not even take into consideration Lady Gaga's health. She recently made a post on her Instagram speaking about how she struggles with chronic pain and the things she does to try and combat it.

As someone who also suffers from chronic pain, I know that one of the worst side effects besides, well-pain, is the inflammation causing your body to bloat, especially in the lower stomach area. Some days I can have a flat stomach, other days I look about three months pregnant, it all just depends on the pain levels. OR another very common thing that could cause bloating is a period. Yes, I said it. We never want to talk about it, but us girls know that your body is totally out of your control during your time of the month. Also, her outfit may just have been a little unflattering, well have been there.

Lady Gaga has a killer body and those pictures just reinforced that idea for me. I saw a woman who loved herself and loved what she was doing and wore that outfit like she was on top of the world. She did not care what anyone thought and worked her butt off to look that good, She gave me inspiration to be able to walk around in a crop top again on the days my stomach isn't as flat as it could be and to stop letting those girls on Instagram tell me how to lose weight and have the perfect body. This year has been full of a lot of stress for me, and Lady Gaga's stomach was the biggest confidence booster I have gotten all year.

Thank you Gaga. You are my hero. <3