Well over 90 per cent of the female population has cellulite, but you wouldn’t know it based on the barrage of flawless, #fitspiration photos we see on our Instagram feeds.
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That’s why one blogger has taken to her social media channel to show that her supposedly cellulite-free photos aren’t always what they seem.
Australian fitness blogger Sophie Allen took to Instagram this week to share a composite image of two photos of her butt posted side by side, in order to demonstrate how easy it is to appear cellulite-free in photos.
On one side, the fit model’s backside appears smooth and dimple-free, while on the other side, she has noticeable cellulite. She looks incredible in both photos; however, neither of them is Photoshopped, and the dramatic change from one image to another is simply a matter of posing in a certain awy.
She captioned the image, “Just keepin’ it real with y’all #ihavecellulitetoo and it appears when I squeeze my butt & disappears with the simple act of slightly tilting my hips out!”
Sophie’s message of transparency and self-acceptance is catching on. She’s joining a legion of other fitness models who are keen to be more real with their fans — and themselves.
“We are not all what we seem on social media,” wrote U.K.-based fitness blogger, Tiffany Brien, who went viral earlier this year when she shared two side-by-side photos of her belly on Instagram — one flat and one dramatically less so, taken 12 hours apart to show how bloating affects her flawless figure.
“No I’m not 6 months pregnant,” she wrote. “It’s just my food baby….These two photos are 12 hours apart, left before bed and right when I woke up.”
Then there was Ashlie Molstand, also known as Foodie Girl Fitness, who took to Facebook last year in order to demonstrate how the same body can look very different, depending on the angle.
The first photo was a professional shot taken standing up, with her hands behind her head. The second showed her sitting down, posed in a normal position, and is taken from a less “flattering” angle. She looked like anyone else does when sitting down, and that was exactly the point of her message.
“Our bodies aren’t broken. The message society is trying to tell us {by airbrushing everything, erasing dimples and rolls and fluff} is,” Ashlie wrote.
Moral of the story? Don’t be fooled by the tricks Instagrammers use to make their photos look more flattering — they deal with bloating and have dimply skin and belly rolls just like the rest of us.