“Why, after all these years of learning to love myself, do I still feel like losing weight is something I need to do?”
Even though there are more self-love and body-positivity movements, fad diets and body-shaming are not a thing of the past. In fact, they may be worse now.
Every day, we scroll through hundreds or even thousands of photos, many of which have been changed with Photoshop or filters to give them a look that most people can’t achieve.
Living in the digital age has made us think that to be healthy, you have to work out every day, drink juice to lose weight, plan your meals, eat clean, and never eat “junk” foods. But is this really good for you? Does following a strict routine and giving up foods you love make you healthier? Shouldn’t the goal not be to lose weight but to reduce stress and time spent in front of screens? To me, being healthy means respecting my body and its needs and being kind to my body, which is always working to keep me going throughout the day.
It’s obvious that celebrity diets and unrealistic body standards could send a dangerous message, especially to younger people. Here are 19 famous people who have and said goodbye to the whole thing.
1. Lili Reinhart
Lili Reinhart will always fight for body positivity and against unrealistic beauty standards. On May 3, the actor used her Instagram stories to criticise celebrities for spreading unhealthy ideas about how bodies should look and how to eat. Reinhart made fun of Kim Kardashian’s strict diet for the Met Gala, which helped her lose 16 pounds in just three weeks so she could wear Marilyn Monroe’s dress.
“To say out loud that you went without food so you could go to the Met Gala. When you know that millions of young men and women look up to you and pay close attention to everything you say… The stupidity is out of this world and disgusting. “Please stop supporting these stupid, harmful celebrities whose whole image is based on their bodies,” Lili wrote. Say it, girl. Accepting your body and being able to eat what you want are much more important than fitting into any dress.
2. Camila Mendes
Camila Mendes calls herself a “fertile renaissance goddess” because she stopped dieting in 2018 and overcame a long battle with eating too little. The star says her life and happiness have gotten a lot better since she ended her unhealthy relationship with food. She now loves her body the way it is and doesn’t try to change it to fit society’s beauty standards.
“I’ve given up on the idea that all my hard work will lead to a happier, thinner version of myself. Your body type is determined by your genes. Eating healthy foods and working out regularly will make you healthier, but it won’t necessarily make you thinner, and the current system doesn’t make that clear. I’m tired of the media telling us over and over again that being thin is the best body type. The best body type is a healthy body, which looks different on everyone. I’m #donewithdieting, “Camila wrote to tell her followers to stop eating in ways that were bad for them.
3. Ashley Graham
Ashley Graham is a supermodel who loves her body and has been giving people all over the world and herself confidence for years. She doesn’t like being called “plus-size,” and in her podcast Pretty Big Deal, she says that women shouldn’t be put in groups. Graham uses her platform to help women love themselves for who they are and to get people to accept all body types.
Graham’s weight has gone up and down for years, but she now knows what works for her. She eats healthy foods that are good for the body, like green smoothies, salmon, and a lot of quinoa. But she doesn’t worry about eating what she wants. So, she has “French fry and hamburger night” once in a while. “There’s nothing perfect about how I eat, but I always try to make it work. I always try to say, “Tomorrow is a new day.” Don’t be upset if you mess up today.” On “Good Morning, America,” Graham says this. “I’ve tried every diet you can imagine, but none of them work for me. I’m at a healthy weight and I know I look good, but how I feel is more important. So why do I try to lose weight? I now know what works for me.”
4. Jameela Jamil
Jamil has made it her mission to show that the way people eat is harmful. She calls out celebrities and people with a lot of followers on social media who promote unhealthy things like skinny teatoxes, pills that make you feel full, and fad diets. She started an online community and podcast called I Weigh to help other people learn to love themselves, have a positive view of their bodies, and just feel good about themselves.
Jamil wrote on Instagram, “I’m so sick of the lies.” “When I was young, I had a lot of trouble getting enough to eat. I listened to irresponsible celebrities, bought all of their bad products, and followed their TERRIBLE and toxic diet advice to stay the size they were. This messed up my digestion and metabolism for the rest of my life. I hurt my ability to have kids, and I was drunk and mentally sick. I was so into it when I was a teenager that I didn’t eat for over three years. I won’t give up until we teach people how to be better allies to women and stop selling us this nonsense and rhetoric that has nothing to do with medicine. Stop listening to people who say bad things.
Yes! GO OFF.
5. Bridget Malcolm
Bridget Malcolm, who used to be a model for Victoria’s Secret, promised herself in August 2018 that she would stop dieting for good and make peace with her body. In her blog post, she talked about how she had struggled with disordered eating for ten years and how working for the brand made her feel like she always had to lose weight.
“My mind and body were both hungry, and it never stopped. Malcolm told 60 Minutes, “For me and a lot of other women, that company meant that we were being used.” People thought that if you just stayed, got a little bit skinnier, and did what we told you to do, you’d become an Angel and be famous all over the world, which would be great.”
Since leaving the VS catwalk, the model is stronger than ever and has helped show the less glamorous side of the modelling business. “I realised I was taking the easy way out by being obsessed with my body… I went in the direction of my ego. From then on, I said no to everything bad that had to do with my body. When my friends talked about their bodies, I stopped them and refused to join in. I read a book when I wanted to look at myself in a mirror. “I told the waiter exactly what I wanted for dinner,” she wrote. “But the most important thing is that I told myself nice things when I looked at my body in the mirror. I decided to make myself in charge.
6. Mia Kang
When Mia Kang became a model, she was told right away that she needed to lose weight. When she did, she didn’t like it, so she flipped the switch and told everyone to “please piss off and mind their own business.” She got into Muay Thai boxing and started training like an athlete, which meant she needed to eat well. No more fasts, juice diets, or days with very few calories. Now, she loves herself and all of her curves, giving people all over the world the courage to do the same.
“The beauty standard set by the industry is unrealistic and not focused on health, and this needs to change. It makes me feel this way. It puts us against us,” she told Megyn Kelly on TODAY. The model’s lowest weight was 99 pounds. “I remember being so happy when I hit the double-digit mark. Your body learns to handle it. You learn how to do things with nothing. It was nothing for me to not eat for four days.
7. Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence talked about how the movie business treats body image at Elle’s Women in Hollywood event in 2017. She talked about a time early in her career when a female producer told her she had to lose a lot of weight for one of her roles—15 pounds in two weeks, to be exact. After this “humiliating” and “degrading” experience, the actor has been an advocate for body positivity and against dieting ever since.
Lawrence only lost weight once, to play a ballerina in the 2018 movie Red Sparrow. She said she has learned since then that diets aren’t for her. Lawrence told Vanity Fair, “I can’t work on a diet.” “I’m hungry. I have my feet on the ground. I need more energy.”
8. Lizzo
Lizzo is a role model for body positivity. She is always encouraging people to love their bodies no matter what size they are. Back in 2020, when she posted a TikTok video about her 10-day smoothie detox, the Grammy-winning singer got some negative feedback. Critics said that the singer was promoting a harmful diet culture and that it could “trigger” people with eating disorders. Lizzo used her Instagram story to say that she didn’t do the detox to lose weight, but rather to give her body a break and clean it out. She told her fans and followers to love their bodies no matter what, and she said that she is still working on the same thing.
“I detoxed my body and I’m still fat. Even though I’m still fat, I love my body. Even though I’m pretty, I’m still fat. “These things don’t rule each other out,” she said. “Your body is perfect for you, even if no one else thinks it is. If you knew how many different parts your body has, you’d be so proud of it. I am so happy for you. For making it this far in a society that gives us a head start in self-loathing, gives us a dysmorphic mirror, and makes us want to catch up with who we think we should be.”
9. Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst doesn’t back down when directors and producers say things about how she looks. Sofia Coppola suggested that Kirsten Dunst lose weight for her role in The Beguiled, which came out in 2017. Dunst said no and decided to stop dieting and caring so much about her weight. Not only that, but the movie was shot in Louisiana, which is where I can get all my favourite fried foods, like beignets, king cake, fried chicken, etc. How could someone say no?
“Before I go to work, I’m going to eat fried chicken and McDonald’s. So I’m like, ‘We have no options! “I’m sorry, I can’t lose weight for this role,” she told Variety, adding that Coppola totally respected her choice.
10. Melissa McCarthy
Many people have looked up to Melissa McCarthy when it comes to things like losing weight and being happy with their bodies. The actor has made it clear that she doesn’t care what people think about her weight, even though she is always asked about it.
McCarthy’s last and only extreme diet was a few years after she got the part of Sookie in Gilmore Girls. She tried an all-liquid diet with the help of a doctor, and in four months, she lost 70 pounds. She told People magazine, “I’d never do that again.” “Half the time I felt hungry and crazy.”
McCarthy dropped 50 pounds in 2015 by changing how she lived and how she thought about her weight. She says that once she stopped following strict diet plans, she was happy and felt good about herself. She told Life & Style, “I really stopped worrying about it.” “I think there’s something to kind of letting go and not being so nervous and stiff about it, which, strangely, has worked.”
11. Iskra Lawrence
Iskra Lawrence, a model, had finally had enough. In an Instagram post, she put pictures of herself as a teen next to pictures of herself now to show how wanting the “perfect body” all the time can be bad for one’s mental health. She talked about body shaming and toxic diet culture in the modelling and advertising industries in the caption.
“I’m disgusted that people/companies make money off of toxic diet culture, a perfected unrealistic beauty ideal (including photoshop), and promoting that health looks like one thing,” she wrote. “Millions of us have fought and are still fighting eating disorders. It’s awful and heartbreaking to see Weight Watchers target children, show “before and after” pictures, and praise restrictive, guilt-filled eating habits.
12. Gigi Hadid
Gigi Hadid has walked the runway at all of the fashion weeks in Paris, New York, London, and Milan. But there was a time when people didn’t think her athletic build would ever help her on the catwalk. Yolanda Hadid, her mother, is also not a saint. Yolanda was caught on camera telling Gigi to diet so she could be “on the skinny side” and scolding her for eating her own graduation cake during a RHOBH shoot. Gigi didn’t let the criticism get to her, and she didn’t let having Hashimoto’s disease make her feel bad. She still eats well for her health and career, but sometimes she has a burger to keep her sane.
“People are quick to say things like, “I used to love Gigi’s body, but she gave in.” But I’m not thin because I gave in to the industry. I was proud of my body when I was more athletic because I was a great volleyball player and horseback rider. But when I found out I have Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease, I knew I had to eat well and exercise. As a teenager, it was weird to deal with this when all of my friends could eat McDonald’s without getting sick “In an interview for Harper’s Bazaar, Gigi told Blake Lively about it.
“I liked my body back then and I still like it now. Whoever is reading this, I want you to know that in three years, you will look at a picture from this time and think, “Wow, I was so hot.” Why did that stupid thing someone said make me feel so bad about myself?’”
