We’re calling it: 2019 is the year of empowered women embracing their beautiful, natural bodies. In the last month alone, we’ve had Ashley Graham’s refreshing pregnancy announcement celebrating her stretch marks, and Hollywood superstar Salma Hayek defying beauty norms with her zero-fucks-given birthday photo. Now, Demi Lovato is sharing her body confidence with the world, and she’s definitely #notsorry about it.

Yesterday, the pop singer served some inspiring body confidence when she shared a completely unedited photo of herself on Instagram, free of any touch-ups and airbrushing. 

The singer, who has been holidaying in Bora Bora during her summer getaway, shared a photo of herself in a leopard print bikini looking fierce AF in the pool. And although the carefully curated images we consume on our Instagram feeds often perpetuate impossible beauty standards, Lovato wrote an inspiring caption explaining that it took a lot of courage to post the image without editing her appearance, since she has an acute fear” of revealing her imperfections.

“This is my biggest fear. A photo of me in a bikini unedited. And guess what, it’s CELLULIT!!!!”, she began.

 “I’m just literally sooooo tired of being ashamed of my body, editing it (yes the other bikini pics were edited - and I hate that I did that but it’s the truth) so that others think I’m THEIR idea of what beautiful is, but it’s just not me. This is what I got.”

The Confident singer went on to explain that her body positivity marks the start of a new beginning, referencing her recent struggles with addiction, eating disorders, and mental health issues. Last summer, Lovato was hospitalised after suffering a near-fatal overdose, and took a break from music to focus on her recovery. 

“I want this new chapter in my life to be about being authentic to who I am rather than trying to meet someone else’s standards. So here’s me, unashamed, unafraid and proud to own a body that has fought through so much and will continue to amaze me when I hopefully give birth one day.”

“It’s such a great feeling to be back in tv/film while not stressing myself with a strenuous workout schedule before 14 hour days, or depriving myself from a real birthday cake rather than opting for watermelon & whip cream with candles because I was terrified of REAL cake and was miserable on some crazy diet shit,” she continued.

The Grammy-nominated artist finishing by revealing that she currently has an “anthem” in the pipeline, which we’re hoping is a body-positive banger that follows in the footsteps of Confident and Sorry Not Sorry. In a refreshing final note, she acknowledged that her work towards accepting her body is a constant work in progress, but that she hopes her honesty can inspire others struggling with toxic perfectionism. 

“Anyway, here’s me, RAW, REAL! And I love me. And you should love you too! Now back to the studio.. I’m working on an anthem. also. Just so everyone’s clear.. I’m not stoked on my appearance BUT I am appreciative of it and sometimes that’s the best I can do. I hope to inspire someone to appreciate their body today too. #nationalcelulliteday #celluLIT”, she added.

After sharing her post, Lovato opened up on Instagram Stories about the strength it took to show her natural body to the world. “Literally shaking still.. that was so hard for me to post,” she wrote. “But wow.. so blown away by the love and support.. let’s be the change we want to see!!!”

Lovato, who recently celebrated her 27th birthday by attending Ariana Grande’s Sweetener concert at the London O2 Arena, where she became the star of a birthday chant and danced barefoot until the early hours, is definitely having the best reinvention, and her body positivity is so important in breaking down unrealistic beauty norms. And seeing as there’s a new album in the works, it’s certainly the right time to revisit Camp Rock. Cue This Is Me.

Image: Getty