Model Rosa Acosta has endured a lot of criticism after she recently decided to chop her hair off. In a recent statement she explains the motivation behind her new short look which some believed was inspired by Amber Rose. She was motivated to cut her hair after suffering hair loss that may have been caused by an eating disorder.

I didn’t have to ask permission from anyone to cut my hair. However, due the overwhelming response I felt it was only right to address my condition. I love hair, most women do. There is certain femininity in the hair but it doesn’t stop there, it’s about your mannerisms the way you talk, the way you walk they way you carry your self. People have demanded an answer about why I cut my hair while insinuating that as if it was going to destroy me in some way. The truth is I cut my hair because my hair is falling out and has been for over a decade and I needed to began my treatments again.

“I encourage other people out there with a hair loss problem to accept your reality and make the most of it. For what I do, I feel like I’m a bad b*tch and I don’t need hair to make me. When I want to wear the hair I will. But for now, the most important thing for me to do is go through my treatments to make my scalp healthy which will intern give me a healthy head of hair”

Rosa tells us that she use to be a ballerina but the weekly weigh-ins ultimately drove her to anorexia for fear of gaining weight which would ruin her career as a professional ballerina. This may have been what ultimately caused the hair loss and she is still dealing with the condition. However, she feels liberated with the new cut.

In the meantime she can be seen on the new cover of Black Mens Magazine and she will be launching a daily “Workout with Rosa” in May.

Read more: Necole Bitchie.com: Rosa Acosta Explains New Look & Hair Loss

Usually, I don’t write anything when I show my pictures, but I felt the urge to share with all of you how I felt during this photo shoot and after I saw the final results. Everybody knows that I was a classical ballet dancer for more than 18 years. I was the student with the highest grades of the entire school, which suggested I had all the qualities to become the perfect dancer.
Nevertheless, ”all the qualities” became “almost all” when at my 13 years old I weighed 125 pounds, which made me undergo bulimia for two years and anorexia for like seven years. When I remember about those days, I merely can’t understand what went through my head. The image that I used to see reflected on the mirror was more of a monster than of a young girl. I was in a state where nothing was more important to me than to “look good” and if that meant to be sick I wouldn’t care.
Never, with the exception of that experience, I felt less loved… no one has hated me more of what I have hated myself during those years. No one has detested me so much that wish to do as much damage to me as the one I did to myself by taking my body to the extreme, exaggerating the physical workout, not eating or drinking fluids for days, taking laxatives and punishing myself in any possible way.
Many years later and 100% recuperated I value more how I feel than how I look and these pictures reflect, in one way or another, my physical and mental state. I have accepted and love myself the way I am; I respect my body and take care of it like a temple. Rather than looking perfect, I value the fact that I can run or walk for an hour without getting exhausted or losing my breath. I value more the fact that my endurance has increased incredibly and that I have fulfilled successfully the physical challenges that I have set out. When I thought I couldn’t any more, I could…
One day I thought I was worthless. Today I am at pease with myself and I have learned that to feel loved and to be accepted is something that needs to start with yourself. You are only one step away from being in the best physical state of your life! What are you waiting for??