Riverdale star Lili Reinhart reveals she is ‘struggling with obsessive thoughts about her weight’

Riverdale star Lili Reinhart admitted on Instagram that she has been ‘struggling with obsessive thoughts’ about her weight and finds it challenging to look at her body with ‘love instead of criticism.

The 25-year-old actress shared a series of Instagram stories about body image last night, admitting that working in Hollywood — which is ‘so obsessed with women’s bodies’ — has had more of an impact on her than she predicted it would.  

The star lamented that she sometimes feels like her body has ‘betrayed’ her by changing because it no longer looks the same as it did when she was 20.

‘I know I’m not alone in this toxic way of thinking about my body,’ she said, adding that it was ‘heartbreaking’ to know that so many people feel as she does.

‘I’ve been struggling with obsessive thoughts about my body/weight the last few months and it’s gotten pretty severe in the last week,’ Lili wrote

‘I didn’t think being in this industry, that is so obsessed with women’s bodies and weights, could ever mess with my own body acceptance and positivity. But it has,’ she admitted

‘I’ve been struggling with obsessive thoughts about my body/weight the last few months and it’s gotten pretty severe in the last week,’ Lili wrote.

‘So I want to take a moment to be vulnerable and share this in the hope that any of you who are also struggling don’t feel so alone.

‘I’m here with you. It’s challenging to look at your body with love instead of criticism. It’s a practice I’m still learning,’ she said.

‘I didn’t think being in this industry, that is so obsessed with women’s bodies and weights, could ever mess with my own body acceptance and positivity. But it has. I wish I hadn’t grown up in a time where the media worshipped only one size of women.’

Lili acknowledged that the spiral of thinking she’s fallen into isn’t healthy.

‘My body has carried me through 25 years of life. All my scars, tears, trauma… I wish I could love it more, even when it doesn’t look like it did when I was 20,’ she said.

‘My body has carried me through 25 years of life,’ she said. ‘ I wish I could love it more, even when it doesn’t look like it did when I was 20’ (pictured left at age 20 in 2016, right in 2021)

‘But I’m trying. I know my body deserves equal love and admiration at any size,’ she insisted 

‘I’ve looked in the mirror and pulled my skin back tight to see what I *should* look like. What I’m expected to look like… in an industry where you’re inconvenient when not a sample size’

‘Painful’: She described society as a ‘broken system’ 

‘But I’m trying. I know my body deserves equal love and admiration at any size,’ she insisted.

‘To not feel at home in my own skin is a devastating feeling. As if my body has betrayed me by changing.

‘I’ve looked in the mirror and pulled my skin back tight to see what I *should* look like. What I’m expected to look like… in an industry where you’re inconvenient when not a sample size,’ she said.

But while Lili faces particular challenges because much of her career is based on her appearance, she noted that so many people deal with the same struggles. 

‘It’s painful to think hundreds of millions of us are so concerned with what our bodies look like. That’s an incredibly broken system. Somewhere along the line, humanity really f***ed this one up,’ she said.

‘I know I’m not alone in this toxic way of thinking about my body. And it’s heartbreaking that this feeling is understood by so many of us. 

She shared some images of art featuring women with curvier bodies

‘I know I’m not alone in this toxic way of thinking about my body. And it’s heartbreaking that this feeling is understood by so many of us,’ she said

‘Let’s continue to talk about it. Normalize it. Empathize with others. Show compassion and kindness,’ she concluded

‘Let’s continue to talk about it. Normalize it. Empathize with others. Show compassion and kindness,’ she concluded.

Lili has spoken about body image before. In 2018, when she and her co-star Camila Mendes noticed that their waists appeared to be edited to look smaller on the cover of Cosmopolitan Philippines, they spoke out.

‘Camila and I worked incredibly hard to feel confident in the bodies we have,’ Lili wrote at the time. ‘It’s an everyday battle, sometimes. And to see our bodies become so distorted in an editing process is a perfect example of the obstacles we have yet to overcome.’ 

When social media users began asking if she was pregnant later that year, she put them in their place.

‘Nope. Not pregnant,’ she wrote. ‘This is just my body. And sometimes I’m bloated. Sometimes an unflattering photo is taken of me. Sometimes I go through periods of time where I gain weight.

‘My body is something that I will never apologize for,’ she said. ‘My body will constantly go through changes. And so will yours. And that’s fine. So let’s not put so much time and effort into caring about a stranger’s figure.’ 

Not long after, though, she came under fire for making some comments about Marilyn Monroe’s body, insisting that the late actress was ‘curvy’ and adding, ‘To me that’s really inspiring and makes me feel like my body can be accepted.’

Lili has spoken about body image before, and has opened up about suffering from body dysmorphia

Critics argued that Lili was quite slim, which she soon responded to. 

‘Feeling really disheartened by the fact that so many people are saying “you’re skinny so shut up about [embracing] your body.” As if my body dysmorphia is irrelevant because of how I look to some people,’ she said. 

‘I’m either not curvy enough or not skinny enough to feel insecure.’

In 2020, Lili spoke out again, telling Allure that she didn’t see herself as looking as slim as her castmates.

‘This is still something I struggle with on a daily basis. And it doesn’t help when I’m being compared to other women,’ she said. ‘I have gained weight due to depression the last two months and I’ve felt very insecure about it.

‘But I did a recent bra and underwear scene and felt it was my obligation to be strong and show confidence in myself, looking as I do.

‘And I want other young women to see my body on tv and feel comfort in the fact that I’m not a size 0. And I’m not a perfect hourglass shape.’