Formerly obese woman-turned-bikini competitor who spoke out about how 'proud' she was of her stretchmarks after losing half her weight admits she is getting TATTOOS to cover them up 

  • Conner Rensch, 27, from Nebraska weighed 271 lb. when she decided to get healthy, dropping 130 lbs. in just a year and winning a bikini competition
  • Last year, she went viral for speaking about how proud she was of her stretchmarks because 'they tell my story and how far I've come'
  • However, this week she revealed that she is starting treatment to get rid of them 

By Phoebe Jackson-edwards and Carly Stern For Dailymail.com

Published: 16:07 EST, 1 February 2017 | Updated: 17:32 EST, 1 February 2017

A young woman who earned internet fame last year after claiming pride in her stretchmarks has shocked followers by revealing that she has no decided to get rid of them.

Nebraska resident Conner Rensch, 27, was morbidly obese when she decided to get healthy, going on to drop 130 lbs. — nearly half of her original 271 lb. body weight — and model in a bikini competition.

At the time, she talked up her stretchmarks, proclaiming that they showed how far she has come. But now, she seems to have changed her mind, and is trying to cover them up.

Scroll down for video 

Next step: Conner Rensch is getting tattoos on her stomach to blend in her stretch marks

Who she is: The 27-year-old earned attention last year for proclaiming that she loved her stretchmarks

Special skill: Deana Morgans, a Kansas City tattoo artist, uses a technique to make the marks less noticable

'My stretch marks are probably one of the most recognizable things about me. My story of loving myself, stretch marks and all, went viral and inspired millions of women to never be ashamed of their bodies no matter what battle wounds they might have,' she wrote in a new piece on Omaha.com.

Recently, though, she met someone in Kansas City who uses a tattooing method to lessen the appearance of stretchmarks — and decided to try the method out for herself.

'I didn't even know that something like this existed, but I am excited to be able to document my experience,' she wrote on Instagram. 'I have always been very proud of my stretchmarks, but it is nice to know that there are now treatments out there that help with the appearance.'

Conner clarifies that she wasn't lying when she first said she loved her stretchmarks. It had taken her a long time to get to that place, but it was true.

transformation: Conner lost half her body weight, dropping 130 lbs. after high school

Mean: She has a sweet tooth and was teased a lot while growing up

After losing the weight, she entered a bikini contest and won event though it was her first time in a two-piece 

'When I speak about how self-love does not happen overnight, I mean it. I had to constantly and consistently tell myself that I was beautiful. That I loved my body. In time, I started to believe it,' she wrote.

She's been overweight for a long time and bullied in school, but worked hard to lose weight. She's also undergone surgery to remove her excess skin after dropping over 100 lbs.

But while she had come to appreciate the marks on her stomach, part of that seems to have come from learning to accept what she couldn't change. Then, recently, she learned she could actually change them.

Deana Morgans, who tattoos stretchmarks to help blend them into the skin, read her story and reached out to her, offering her services.

Hard work: She consulted a personal trainer and a nutritionist to drop the pounds  

She grew to eventually love and accept her stretchmarks because they showed how far she had come

A little help: She had, however, gotten skin-removal surgery after losing weight 

Conner thought about it a lot and ultimately decided that it was too 'cool' of an opportunity to pass up. Deana applied a numbing cream, then did her work. She's only had one session so far but is already seeing results.  

'My stretch marks are a part of me, so I do love them,' she explained. 'They are a daily reminder of the battle that I have won. Having them blend into my skin does not take them away from my body, but it does make me feel that I am moving forward into a new stage of my life. A new chapter. And for that, I couldn’t be more excited.' 

Conner Rensch, who is a hit on Instagram where she shares pictures of her fitness journey, said she first gained weight due to having a very sweet tooth. She finally managed to shift the pounds with help from a nutritionist and a personal trainer.

After getting down to her goal weight, Conner plucked up the courage to enter the 2015 World Beauty Fitness And Fashion contest — in which she wore a bikini for the first time.

She said that getting the tattoos was just too cool an opportunity to pass up

She said that before, she was a 'constant eater, I was always hungry and would want to feel very, very full'

She scooped first place in the competition, and has since become an online inspiration, with over 88,000 followers on Instagram alone. Speaking about entering the bikini competition, Conner said: 'It took me a while to share my story.

'Posting photos of myself online was scary and I never imagined I would be doing a bikini contest but the most powerful thing during weight loss was I realized anything I put my mind to I can do.'

'I am so proud of my scars and stretch marks as they tell my story and how far I've come,' she went on. 'It was amazing to get up there and they shared my story as I walked out - it was such a proud moment of me, all my family was there.'

Conner said her weight had always been an issue, and she remembers being told she was fat aged just six. At school she was bullied and using food as a comfort, she quickly ballooned. The isolation led to depression, but Conner refused to let the bullies win and, as a freshman at college, turned her life around.

Followers: She now documents her progress on Instagram and Facebook 

Flashback: Conner, pictured aged 19 at 271lb, said: 'When I see photos of me before, they make me feel sad in terms of how I felt.'

Conner said: 'I'm chubby girl stuck in a skinny girl body. I eat healthy 80 per cent of the time and whatever I want the rest'

Despite repeated diet attempts, she was unable to slim down until, at 18 years old and weighing 271 lbs., she sought professional help.

She scrapped processed food and began kick-boxing, cardio and weight-lifting which helped her to shed 23 lbs. in 21 days. The dramatic weight loss gave her the motivation and momentum to continue with her new lifestyle.

'The biggest change was emotionally — I was my biggest bully. Now I've learned to be kind to myself,' she said.

Comments 2

Share what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.