Demi Lovato Reveals How She’s ‘Taken Away the Power’ from the Haters
When Demi Lovato posted a pic of herself in a swimsuit recently, she admitted that she wasn’t overly fond of how she looked in the shot, but that she was sharing it anyway because this year she’s “letting go of [her] perfectionism and embracing freedom from self criticism.” Now she’s reflecting on her powerful choice and the “process of learning to love” herself.
Sitting down for a chat on Monday’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the 25-year-old got real about her feelings toward her body. “I’ve been working on myself for the past year, more so than I’ve ever worked on myself,” she said. “I’ve really surrendered to the process of just learning to love yourself, and I feel like it shows through my pictures. I post more bathing suit pictures online.”
And she’s not just doing it for herself — though, honestly, that would be reason enough. She’s also doing it for her fans. She explained, “I want to show my fans that it’s possible to get to that self-love too.”
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However, she did admit that it’s sometimes easier said than done. “I actually was very hesitant about posting that because I didn’t love my legs in it,” she told DeGeneres. “I decided to post it anyway because I thought, ‘You know what, it’s me, it’s who I am and I love my body, so I’m just going to post it.'”
And she feels like she’s empowering herself in a very specific way. “I’ve taken away the power from the negative comments and the haters by not listening to them and if I do see it, I just feel sorry for them, because who leaves a negative comment on somebody’s profile on the internet? You have to be kind of sad to do that. I’ve taken away the power, and it just feels great.”
The “Sorry, Not Sorry” singer also spoke with DeGeneres about why she decided to be so open about her life and her struggle in her YouTube documentary, Simply Complicated. “I still deal with things, and I wanted to show my fans that it’s still a daily struggle with certain issues,” she said. “But I’m fighting hard, and I want to show my fans that you can continue to fight hard and live the life that you deserve.”
Has learning to love yourself been an ongoing process for you? Let us know @BritandCo!
(Photo via Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)