Demi Lovato has lived dieting-free for five months—and while some people still body-shame her, she doesn’t regret giving up on the strict food rules that once gave her intense stress.
The singer, 25, announced in January this year that she would no longer deny herself ‘treats’ or ‘food-shame’ herself.
Five months later, she looked back on her lifestyle change in a new interview with People, explaining that she doesn’t let negative comments about her shape affect her commitment to her own happiness.
Lifestyle change: Demi Lovato (pictured left in May and right in November 2017) announced in January that she had given up dieting, and five months later she feels much more free
‘The reaction has been great,’ she told the magazine. ‘There are some people who body shame me, and sometimes it’s difficult, but I say to myself, am I happy? and that’s the most important thing. And I want my fans to be happy too.’
Back in January, Demi took to Twitter to tell her fans about her decision to stop dieting.
Demi, who has been open about her health struggles, has coped with bulimia and bipolar disorder, and has now been sober from drugs and alcohol for six years after receiving treatment.
She has been candid when it comes to discussing her personal challenges, from her journey to sobriety to her efforts to adopt a more body-positive mindset and embrace her natural shape.
‘Feeling gross today at a photo shoot but I’m choosing to accept what I see because I love myself for who I am and your love and support gets me through moments like this,’ she wrote in January.’If you’re struggling as well, don’t forget… if I can do it, you can too!’
News: Back in January, Demi took to Twitter to tell her fans about her decision to stop dieting
Plan: The singer said she would no longer deny herself ‘treats’ and that she had decided to stop dieting because it gave her ‘chronic stress’
Demi also outlined her non-dieting plan, adding in a second tweet: ‘No longer depriving myself of treats (in moderation) and I’m not gonna lie, I put on a couple lbs since I’ve given up dieting BUT I’ve given up the chronic stress of what I eat because I don’t want to set that example for my fans. No more food-shaming myself!!’
Giving up dieting has left Demi feeling ‘a lot more free’. She had previously fallen into a pattern of restricting, then overindulging when the occasion presented itself, which can happen when someone follows strict food rules.
‘I had been on a really strict, regimented diet for so many years, and it felt like I didn’t have a lot of freedom with food,’ she told People.
‘It would cause me to overindulge whenever I did get the opportunity, and I just felt like it was an unhealthy behavior. I just thought to myself, why am I doing this?
‘I’d rather live in freedom from any eating disordered behaviors or thoughts, and so I decided to just let myself enjoy certain things without feeling guilt or shame.’
Message: In April, she shared intimate images of herself wearing shorts and a rolled up T-shirt writing on top of one of the posts: ‘Cellulite and I still love myself’
Body positivity: Another post reads: ‘No thigh gap for me and yet I still love myself’
Self-love: In another update, Demi pinched the skin on her stomach, writing on top of the image: ‘Stretch marks and extra fat… and yet I still love myself’
Sharing her intentions with her followers, she said, was important to her because she felt a responsibility to speak out against diet culture, and show that ‘you don’t have to force yourself to lose weight, or to look a certain way’.
Demi has used social media to express her body-positive stance.
In April, she shared intimate images of herself wearing shorts and a rolled up T-shirt on Instagram Stories, writing on top of one of the posts, which was shot from the back: ‘Cellulite and I still love myself.’
Another post shows her front-facing, and reads: ‘No thigh gap for me and yet I still love myself.’
In another update, Demi pinched the skin on her stomach, writing on top of the image: ‘Stretch marks and extra fat… and yet I still love myself.’
Demi said that one of the posts, a boomerang video, had ‘smoothed out’ her legs, but still wanted to get her point across by adding in a follow-up message: ‘The point is, I have cellulite just like the other 93 per cent of women do.
‘What you see on Instagram isn’t always what it seems to be. Let’s embrace out real selves.’