beauty

The one post that lost fitness blogger Sophie Gray 70,000 Instagram followers.

Sophie Gray once had the sort of Instagram feed that sends you into a spiral. The sort of spiral that sees you counting the number of vegetables you’re (absolutely not) consuming each day and planning your workouts for the week even though you know they’re never going to happen.

Blonde hair. A flat stomach. Arms with muscle definition. Food, food and more food that’s green, fresh and vibrant.

The sort of Instagram account that makes you feel unhealthy, unfit and – quite frankly – inadequate.

What we didn’t realise was that Gray was feeling the exact same feelings. “While I was scrolling through other girls’ accounts feeling less than beautiful, women were scrolling through mine feeling the same way,” she wrote recently for Marie Claire.

That is why the social media influencer with 400,000 followers has vowed to post no more pictures showing off a bare stomach on social media – an admission that lost her 70,000 followers in one hit.

Do you need to love your body? Post continues below.

“You no longer see pictures of my body this way on Instagram for a reason. Having a six pack and thigh gap doesn’t make you happy. Pizza and cookies are f*cking delicious,” she posted to Instagram on last Tuesday, alongside an image of herself, in a crop top, with her midriff scribbled over.

“I’m sick of women being told they have to be anything other than themselves to be happy. I know I was in the #fitspo industry for years, and I still want you to care for your body – but f*ck this bullsh*t.”

A post shared by Sophie Gray (@wayofgray) on

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As she coined the hashtag #fuckyourfitspo, Gray watched her following drop from 430,000 to 367,000 almost instantly.

It’s not something she regrets.

“One in five people live with anxiety. I have 400,000 followers on Instagram alone, which means that approximately 80,000 of my fans are living with anxiety right now — including me,” the model wrote for Marie Claire.

“Was my portrayal of a ‘perfect life’ making them feel any better? It was making me feel f*cking terrible, so I’m pretty sure it wasn’t helping.”

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