Kate Upton poses for unretouched photo shoot in Health magazine

By GMA Team

Supermodel and new mom Kate Upton is sending an empowering message about what it means to "be the best you can be" by posing for a completely unretouched photo shoot in Health magazine.

"When you think about it, we have retouching everywhere now—and we don’t even know it," Upton told Health for their September issue.

"People are staging Instagram shots and retouching those pictures. That’s the new norm," she added. "And then we believe that’s how people actually look, and think we should look that way too."

Upton gave birth to her first child in November 2018, and has spoken openly about her struggles with dropping the baby weight after her pregnancy.

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@KateUpton is our September cover star—and she’s posing in a series of unretouched photos to call BS on the all-too-common notion that exercise is about fitting into a smaller dress size. “The thing about focusing on your own journey and strength is that you see the results more quickly,” she explains. “Instead of beating yourself up about the number on the scale, you notice when you get stronger. It’s a healthier mind-set, one that took me a while to get to.” . When #KateUpton first exploded onto the modeling scene just over 10 years ago, curvy bodies weren’t being celebrated the way they are today. And while many appreciated Upton’s figure, there were quite a few who told her she needed to lose weight so that she would look like other models. “I grew up in Florida—we were always in bikinis, and it was nothing weird,” she explains. “So I never realized that I had a different body type, or that people would have an opinion on my body. " . But we’ve come a long way: “Now people forget that happened, which actually makes me happy because I think it shows how much the industry has changed,” adds Upton. “In a lot of ways, I think the industry really built me up and tore me down—and then I built myself back up.” . Tap the link in bio to read the full interview and see the rest of the photo shoot. (📸: @yutsai88)

A post shared by Health (@healthmagazine) on Aug 12, 2019 at 7:37am PDT

Doing an unretouched shoot is a "step towards embracing real life," the 27-year-old model said.

"The goal should be to be the best you can be—not try to look like someone else," she added.

We love @KateUpton's mission to help women feel healthy and strong. https://t.co/8iNjyxaHXm

— Health (@goodhealth) August 12, 2019

Upton is the latest model to take a stand against the fashion and beauty industry's unrealistic expectations imposed on women.

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Behind-the-scenes of our cover shoot with #KateUpton! Tap the link in bio for her full interview and unretouched photo shoot

A post shared by Health (@healthmagazine) on Aug 12, 2019 at 1:42pm PDT

Body positivity activist Ashley Graham debuted an unretouched swimsuit line campaign last May that celebrated so-called imperfections.

Brands are jumping on board the trend too, capitalizing on the fact that real women sell products. In April, CVS launched a beauty campaign with entirely unairbrushed photos.

John Parra/Getty Images, FILE

Kate Upton attends the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit On Location Day 2 at Ice Palace, May 11, 2019, in Miami.