Another side effect of her changing body is that Hyland — who had to skip the Screen Actors Guild awards in January because of health reasons — has been dealing with online bullying for her weight.
” ‘Eat a burger,’ ‘your head is bigger than your body and that’s disgusting,’ ” she quotes. “And you’re right! … No one’s head should be bigger than their body but considering I’ve basically been on bed rest for the past few months, I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass. My circumstances have put me in a place where I’m not in control of what my body looks like. So I strive to be as healthy as possible, as everyone should.”
“Oh and no that’s not photoshop. Those are my legs. Those are my arms. I write this because I’ve been accused of promoting anorexia in, ironically enough, an anti bullying post. And I want young girls to know that that’s NOT my intention.”
Hyland says she’s “eating as much protein as possible” to maintain her muscles, but admits that it’s tough to see them disappearing.
“It’s never fun to look in the mirror and see your hard work at the gym fade away or have your legs be the size of one’s arms,” she says. “But I know that when I get clearance I will be able to get back to the STRONG, lean, and fabulous self I know I can be.”
Hyland, who appears in FOX’s remake of Dirty Dancing, airing Wednesday, made a public appearance Tuesday night at the Dancing with the Stars finale.
“She was super high-energy and looked like she was having a great time. She looked fantastic. She was devastated when Normani got third place,” an onlooker tells PEOPLE.
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.