As a crusader for body-positivity, Demi Lovato is aware of the damage that the lack of size and body diversity can have on one’s self-esteem. But the 25-year-old singer wants fans to know that the problem isn’t only in magazines and on film and television, but also in a place where many millennials spend a majority of their time: Instagram.
In an interview with Self magazine, Lovato, who recently launched a summer collection with Fabletics, took aim at Instagram’s fitspo community and its habit of promoting “unobtainable” body goals. The “Sorry Not Sorry” singer explained that she stays away from the fitness side of Instagram because of the easiness to compare her body to those on her phone screen. Lovato also warned fans from looking up to fitness Instagrams, as their workout regimens are often “unobtainable” for the average person.
“I’m not a huge fan of Instagram stuff when it comes to fitness just because you can do a lot of comparing and sometimes it just seems unobtainable with the way that people work out and look a certain way,” Lovato said.
Source: Instagram
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Instead of looking up to fitspo Instagrams, Lovato revealed that her fitness role model is actually her mom, Dianna De La Garza, who, like her, battled an eating disorder when she was younger. Lovato explained that she looks up to her mom because of her strength and ability to build a healthy relationship with food and exercise.
“My fitness role model is my mom, actually,” Lovato said. “She developed an eating disorder when she was younger but now she has a really healthy relationship with working out and with food and she’s doing amazing. She’s my role model in every aspect, but with fitness as well. She takes her workouts seriously and doesn’t half-ass anything.”
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Though there are a lot of pros to social media, it’s important to note compare yourself to the images and lives that are on your phone screen. Lovato makes a great point that it’s often the career of fitness Instagram users to look the way that they do, so to compare your body and life to them is unrealistic and often, like Lovato said, unobtainable. Workout for yourself—not to look like someone else.