Demi Lovato Showed Some Serious Self-Love With An Inspiring Instagram Story
Demi Lovato is the most body-positive, self-aware queen of our time. OK, that's my opinion, but you have to give her some credit: She's always inspiring and encouraging others to love themselves to the fullest. That's why I'm obsessing over Demi Lovato's Instagram story about body positivity, in which she flaunted her cellulite, stretch marks, and other "imperfections."
On April 6, Lovato posted a series of photos to her story — the first being a Boomerang of her pinching skin on her stomach. She captioned the shot, "Stretch marks and extra fat.. and yet I still love myself." She also uploaded another Boomerang that showed her posing in front of a mirror, wearing a T-shirt and shorts while pointing out cellulite on the back of her legs. She wrote, "Cellulite and yet I still love myself."
Her followers responded by pointing out that they could barely see any flaws, which prompted her to respond:
The boomerang smoothed out my legs. The point is, I have cellulite just like the other 93% of women do. What you see on Instagram isn’t always what it seems to be. Let’s embrace our real selves. #iloveme
She topped off her inspirational thread with one final picture of her posing in front of the mirror. She wrote, "No thigh gap for me and yet I still love myself."
Her latest Instagram story is just one of the many body confidence sermons that she's served over the years. In April 2017, Lovato, who once struggled with bulimia, shared several inspiring messages about body image on her social media. On April 10, 2017, she posted a stunning snapshot of herself, along with the caption,
Feeling better than I’ve ever felt. It’s all about self love. Tell yourself you’re beautiful daily. Be gentle with yourself. Eat carbs without guilt and remember that life is too short to worry about what others think!!
On April 11, 2017, she shared another message about body confidence via Twitter. She wrote,
Sometimes when I'm having bad body image issue days, I remind myself that I'd rather live in freedom from my eating disorder than worry about what people think about my body. I am more than a number and a jean size. F*ck yeah!
With all of the extreme lengths that so many people go through just to be considered "beautiful," it's admirable to see Lovato being so open and encouraging — especially because she's had her own struggles in the past.
In a 2012 interview with Katie Couric, Lovato revealed that she developed body image issues at just 3 years old. She said, “When I started having body image issues I remember being 3 years old in a diaper and rubbing my hand over my stomach... and I remember thinking in my head ‘I wonder if one day this will ever be flat?’"
She started binge eating when she was 8 years old, and later began purging to help her cope with her eating disorder. According to Us Weekly, Lovato talked about her past in a 2011 interview with 20/20, and said,
I was compulsively overeating when I was eight years old. So, I guess, for the past 10 years, I’ve had a really unhealthy relationship with food. It was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body. I was matching the inside to the outside. And there were some times where my emotions were just so built up, I didn’t know what to do. The only way that I could get instant gratification was through an immediate release on myself.
She later received treatment for her illnesses and celebrated six years of sobriety in March 2018.
Although the star has struggled with eating disorders in the past, she's a total icon and I'm so glad to see her fully embracing her body.
