“We hear the term 'body positivity' all the time," the singer said at the Teen Vogue Summit over the weekend. "To be honest, I don't always feel positive about my body."
“I used to look in the mirror if I was having a bad body image day… and say, ‘I love my body, you’re beautifully and wonderfully made.’ But the thing was, I didn’t believe it. So then I just would resent it. And every time I would say it, I would be like, ‘You’re lying to yourself.’”
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By switching instead to ‘body acceptance,’ slowly things started to change for Demi.
“I don’t have to lie to myself and tell myself I have an amazing body. All I have to say is ‘I’m healthy,’” she explained. “In that statement, I express gratitude… I am grateful for my strength and things I can do with my body. But I also am saying I’m healthy and I accept the way my body is today in this moment without changing anything.”
To help herself fully surrender to this new mindset, Demi stopped herself from working out for an entire month.
“For so many years I dealt with an eating disorder. What I wasn’t ever open with myself about was whenever I was in the gym I was doing it to an unhealthy extreme,” she said. “I think that’s what led me down a darker path – I was still engaging in these behaviours. Embracing my body as it is naturally is why I took the month of October off the gym.”
Now when she looks at her reflection, she likes what she sees – inside and out.
“What I see in the mirror is something that’s overcome a lot. I’ve been through a lot and I genuinely see a fighter,” she continued. “I don’t see a championship winner, but I see a fighter and someone who is going to continue to fight no matter what is thrown their way. I have a lot of confidence now because I have said the things I believe in. I know I can hold my own on a first date with someone, in a conversation with someone. That’s what I see when I look in the mirror – a strong woman.”
Cheers to that, Demi.
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