Megan Thee Stallion Shares What Inspired Her Fitness Journey

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion is opening up about her health and fitness journey.

In a new exclusive with PEOPLE, the rapper shared her unique reason for starting her gym routine.

Oftentimes, people start going to the gym and working out because they want to change their physical appearance.

But for Megan, the focus was mainly on the mental health benefits.

“My journey started because I wanted to release emotions,” she explained to PEOPLE. “When I started going to the gym, it was definitely a mental thing for me.”

She reiterated that she encourages her fans to have the same mindset and choose to do things like workout for themselves, rather than to try to gain external validation.

“I don’t think you should be doing it for anybody else,” she says. “If your reason is because you’re having a bad day and you need to release that energy, that’s valid. I hope you’re doing it for you and not for anybody else to give you approval.”

For Megan, having a sense of personal motivation is what really helped her stick to a consistent fitness routine.

“Once you really have a reason to want to be in there, that’s when it changes,” she said. “That’s when you start seeing results, because you’re passionate about it.”

Megan also admitted that when she first started working out, she didn’t realize how important of a role nutrition plays in keeping your body healthy and strong.

However, she has since learned that protein is an important part of building muscle mass, and has incorporated that into her routine.

“When I started my health and fitness journey, I just dove in,” she said. “I didn’t really know too much about the nutrition side of it. But once I started figuring out, ‘Okay girl, if you really want to see some results, you need to be eating and drinking some protein,’ everything clicked.”

This made the rapper’s collaboration with Dunkin’ to promote their new protein refresher drinks a natural fit.

In a new Dunkin’ ad, Megan leads a jazzercise-style workout class featuring the brand’s new featured protein drinks, available in strawberry and Megan’s signature flavor “Megan’s Mango.”

While the featured campaign highlights the protein refreshers, Dunkin’s protein milk is available to be added to coffees, lattes, and matchas as well.

“Whether you’re drinking it to boost your fitness routine or just to power through a busy day, it’s the perfect drink for any occasion,” Megan said of her signature protein refresher.