INSTA ‘PERFECTION’
See the torment and hard work it has taken her to get there. Here, she reveals the truth behind the filters
or three times a week. I now mix in yoga and fun cardio (a trampoline class, for example), do 7am slots during the week and add a weekend class before 10am. I have confidence in what I’ve achieved: I’m strong enough to carry my own suitcase up the stairs and those old-lady aches and pains have disappeared.
As for food, I certainly haven’t found the magic menu, but I’m far better at nourishing myself. I still drink wine, and eat bread and the occasional chocolate brownie. I still freak out when I eat three takeaways in a week and panic that I’ve gained too much weight. I still could do a lot better. But I know from experience that I could also do a lot worse. My former self would roll her eyes at the woman I’ve become. Chia-eating, kale-smoothie-drinking yoga obsessives were never my people. I liked my men well-watered and girlfriends who would join me for a rose or four at lunch. My family are the same. My dad even has his own brewery.
Living a healthier lifestyle and sometimes saying no to alcohol or carbs has challenged how I see myself and others, which truly has been the hardest change to make. These days I no longer think or talk about food all day. My weight goes up and down, but only by about 5lbs. And while I’m still critical, I don’t hate what I see in the mirror. I’m proud of how far I’ve come but, make no mistake, nothing about it has come easily.
It’s worth saying that you don’t have to be a teenage, 5ft 10in glamazon with a genetically perfect face to be fit and healthy. You could also be a short, 33-year-old ex-smoker with a penchant for Shiraz and a reprobate health history. Anyone can change the story when it comes to their own health.
That fraudulent feeling I got on the beach inspired me to launch a website for Insta-famous women to share the other side of their story the side that may not show their best angle, but reveals the challenges they’ve been through. My hope is that young women will read it and see no one’s life is perfect. The edited world online is only the tip of an emotional and physical iceberg and, however easy it all looks, the truth is that nothing comes for free.