Everyone knows that the people you follow on Instagram really have an effect on your self-esteem and confidence. I personally feel like sometimes Instagram just infiltrates my brain with negative thoughts and I have to log out for a few days to clear my mind. As a food and nutrition student and a supporter of the Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size movement, I only follow accounts whose values align with my own. Seeing other women love and respect their bodies is so uplifting and helps me to do the same to my own body. Here are a few of my fav accounts to follow:
Constance Weissmuller
I have mentioned Connie on another HC post in the past. I swear, if I only followed one person on Instagram it would be her. She is currently in grad school and about to become a registered dietitian and she is SO honest. She shares a wide variety of things; food, movement, school and therapy. I truly admire the way she respects her body by being very intuitive with her movement. One of my issues with the internet is there is a lot of advice out there from people who may not know what they’re talking about. Connie shares a lot of fun infographics that are easy and helpful and always backed up by a scientific resource and I love her for that.
Avery Hall
Besides being someone I’m pretty sure the Universe intended me to meet, and my favourite food guide in London, Avery is someone you have to follow. Did I mention she’s 18?! I was not nearly as wise as she is when I was 18. I met Avery when she was speaking at a conference I was volunteering at back in September. She presented on her experience with disordered eating and exercise and I felt like our stories were similar so I slid into her DMs. We ended up grabbing food once and the rest was history. She is so incredibly intelligent, beautiful, hilarious and easy to be around. All of those amazing qualities come through on her page. She is very honest and open on Instagram and I love that about her. She also shares things on a wide variety of topics and often opens up about struggles with mental health, body image and disordered eating. She also is in the process of becoming a personal trainer (which she will be AMAZING at). I love how strong she is, both physically and mentally.
Kelly U
I actually haven’t been following Kelly for that long but I recently stumbled upon her page and decided she was someone whose content I wanted to see every day. She partners with Dove (who has a lot of campaigns featuring diverse women), spoke at the NEDA walk this year and she has also been featured on Aerie’s #AerieReal campaign. She is super unapologetic (a quality I am trying to work on) and she gets very vulnerable in her posts, discussing her past with restriction and bingeing. I think it’s super brave to share photos of yourself in bikinis where you aren’t angling your body to look thinner or sucking in. I would love to one day find the confidence to do that.
Natalie
I’m pretty sure I found Nat through Connie. She labels herself as a dieter (re)turned intuitive eater and I think that’s pretty cool! Healing from an eating disorder (or disordered eating habits) and fighting back against diet culture is already such an incredibly brave thing to do and being willing to share it with the internet, the good, the bad, the slip ups, is amazing. She often goes back to old photos of her where she wasn’t in as positive of a mental space and forgives herself for all the hardship she put her body through. She also shares photos of herself she previously didn’t love and shows gratitude for her past, which I love!
Abbey Kay
I’m not super proud of this, but I realized as I wrote this article, that I don’t follow any body-positive women who live in bigger bodies. I think it’s important to note that body positivity is for everyone, but thin privilege is definitely a thing. Aerie is another great page to follow (bonus jonas!) as they feature women of all sizes, ages and ethnicities. That’s where I discovered Abbey. She’s a fashion blogger and I’m obsessed with her style. If following accounts that talk about food and exercise all day every day seems overwhelming to you, this is your girl! Most of her content is about clothing, and she looks absolutely beautiful in everything she wears.
Learning to love and accept your body is no easy process. I still have days where I hate the way I look, but for the most part I embrace the parts of me that are “perfectly imperfect.” Life is so much more fun when you aren’t constantly obsessing about the way you look and I’m not saying following these five accounts will be a quick fix, but it’s a start. And it’s so worth it.
“We only get to be in our bodies for a limited time, why not celebrate the journey instead of merely riding it out until it’s over?” – Jen Sincero
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