Demi Lovato was a knock out at the VMA Awards on Saturday night but the star took to social media with “mixed emotions” to address the issue of body image.
On Monday, the Skyscrapers singer posted four side-by-side images of herself from her VMA’s appearances over the years and left a heartfelt caption for all of her fans:
“This picture makes me feel so many mixed emotions.. I remember the day I wore the dress in the very first picture. I remember asking for spanx to flatten my stomach because I use to feel so heavy and ‘fat,'” the star wrote. “Now looking at this picture, you can clearly see my hip bones. It makes me sad because I wasted so many years ashamed of my body when I could’ve been living the happy and healthy life I live today.”
“It TRULY just goes to show you that your perceptions can lie to you,” she continued. “OR they can make you learn to enjoy life. Fortunately looking at the picture of myself in the red dress yesterday, I not only feel so grateful for the love and support I’ve had from fans, friends and family, but… I also feel.. beautiful. I’m so excited to live my life the way I deserve to and to the complete fullest. Thank you guys once again.. I’m so thankful for my Lovatics. I love you… And never forget that staying strong is worth it.”
Lovato, 22, has become an outspoken advocate for positive body image since receiving treatment for eating disorders in 2010.
To mark National Eating Disorders Awareness Week in 2012 the star tweeted: “Most models are thinner than 98 per cent of Americans… Instead of trying to change our bodies, how about we try to change our culture?”
But Lovato isn’t the only celebrity sharing the message of body love. Here are some other outspoken body warriors.
Demi Lovato, 22, has become an outspoken advocate for positive body image since receiving treatment for eating disorders in 2010.
Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence refuses to conform to a Hollywood size 0. The 24-year-old Hunger Games star revealed some pretty strong opinions on diets to Harpers Bazaar in the November 2013 issue. “If anybody even tries to whisper the word ‘diet,’ I’m like, ‘You can go f*ck yourself,” said Lawrence. The actress also shared some wise words Yahoo! employees in a live Q&A in 2013: “The world has this idea that if you don’t look like an airbrushed perfect model… You have to see past it. You look how you look, you have to be comfortable. What are you going to do? Be hungry every single day to make other people happy? That’s just dumb.”
In 2012 songstress Adele revealed to Vogue her very healthy views on body image: “I’ve seen people where it rules their lives, you know, who want to be thinner or have bigger boobs, and how it wears them down. And I just don’t want that in my life.”
In a 2009 blog post for the Huffington Post, Scarlett Johansson discussed her anger at the media for whipping up reckless stories that comment on her weight and in turn trick readers. Of one story that claimed the star lost 14 lb – or roughly six kilograms – Johansson wrote: “I’m a petite person to begin with, so the idea of my losing this amount of weight is utter lunacy. If I were to lose 14 pounds, I’d have to part with both arms. And a foot. I’m frustrated with the irresponsibility of tabloid media who sell the public ideas about what we should look like and how we should get there.” Johansson went on: “I’m someone who has always publicly advocated for a healthy body image and the idea that the media would maintain that I have lost an impossible amount of weight by some sort of “crash diet” or miracle workout is ludicrous. I believe it’s reckless and dangerous for these publications to sell the story that these are acceptable ways to looking like a “movie star.”
Liv Tyler said once she had her child she didn’t want to think about herself. “So I stopped worrying about diets,” she said.
.jpg)
Aussie actress Rebel Wilson took to Twitter to say, “I’m not trying to be hot. I’m just trying to be a good actress and entertain people.”
Jennifer Lopez confessed to firing a manager for forcing her to lose weight.
Christina Hendricks wants to encourage women to “celebrate what [they] are born with”.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley reportedly dismissed an agent for telling her to eat “one piece of sushi a day”.
Voluptuous size-14 model Jennie Runk made headlines when she was the star of the 2013 H&M Swimwear campaign. Runk told blog SPARK she found society’s emphasis on being thin “confusing”. “I remember often feeling like I should be unhappy with my body, but it was confusing, because I never thought there was anything wrong with it until people started talking about it,” Runk reportedly told the blog.
Queen Latifah told People magazine “I don’t really diet. I kind of keep everything in moderation, exercise and eat right”.
