Braun Strowman: “I Used To Struggle And I Still Do Struggle With Body Dysmorphia”

Braun Strowman is working to redefine people’s perception of himself.

Speaking with TMZ Sports, The Monster Among Men was asked about his body transformation and how he has been able to get himself into – arguably – the best shape of his career. He said the following:

“It’s mental. 15% of this work that I’ve done to transform myself has been in the gym and doing cardio. The rest is mental and food preparation. It’s consistency.”

Braun has also loved seeing how much his change has done for other people. He’s been receiving messages from people sharing their stories and is in awe that he could mean this much to so many people all around the world. He said this:

“Plus, with seeing how much I’ve changed in the last year or so, what it’s done for other people. The messages I get from fans, friends, family, strangers from all around the world that send me messages, ‘hey, I’ve seen your fitness goal. It’s made me change the way I eat, made me get back in the gym, I’ve lost 100 pounds, I’ve lost 200 pounds.’ All this stuff. I have moms, dads message me, ‘I’ve changed the way I cook for my family, for my kids. We eat at home more. We eat more homecooked meals versus eating out,’ and it’s really cool to see that trickle effect goes down when in the grand scheme of things, I never in a million years thought I’d mean this much to people around the world. I’m a simple country boy from a tiny little town in North Carolina that tripped and fell into the coolest job in the world.”

Lastly, Strowman shared that he continues to struggle with body dysmorphia and will continue working to show that he’s more than just a meathead. Here is what he said:

“It’s humbling, it’s really humbling. To see the transformation pictures that people send me it’s just, wow. Then to hear the stories of how not only are they physically healthier, but they’re mentally healthier. That’s been the biggest thing I’ve noticed because I used to struggle and I still struggle with body dysmorphia. I struggled with bullying growing up because I was a chubby little kid and then I grew to this gigantic mongoloid of a human being that I am and I’m still judged for it because people look at me and they go, ‘oh, this big meathead.’ Which, I don’t mind meathead, I take that as a compliment because I work really hard to make this look like this. But at the same time, don’t judge a book by its cover. I’m very articulate. I feel like I’m kind of intelligent and you know, I like to read, I like to learn, I like to explore and it’s more than just fee-fi-fo-fum I’m going to grind your bones to make my bread. It’s really neat to break stereotypes, push through these walls that have been put up for these toxic masculinity men and really show the world how compassionate and how loving that we really are. But just don’t piss us off because if you make us angry, you probably won’t like it.”

Strowman is scheduled to face Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania Backlash. Fightful will have live coverage of the event beginning at 3 p.m. PST as well as a post-show review immediately after its conclusion.

If you use the quotes above, please credit TMZ with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.