Demi Lovato Warns About the Dangers of Complimenting Someone on Their Weight Loss

Bobby Wright

3 years ago

Demi Lovato has opened up about their struggle with eating disorders in the past and, in a new Instagram post recently, reminded their followers that complimenting someone on their weight loss can be unintentionally harmful.

“If you don’t know someone’s history with food, please don’t comment on their body.”

While Lovato recognized that the intention is usually “pure,” the praise only feeds into diet culture, as recognized by their personal journey.

The Instagram post caption:

“IDK who needs to hear this but complimenting someone on their weight loss can be as harmful as complimenting someone on their weight gain in regards to talking to someone in recovery from an eating disorder,” they wrote. “If you don’t know someone’s history with food, please don’t comment on their body. Because even if your intention is pure, it might leave that person awake at 2 a.m. overthinking that statement…”

Lovato revealed that the positive praise can “sometimes” feel great, but “only to the loud ass eating disorder voice inside my head that says, ‘See, people like a thinner you’ or ‘If you eat less you’ll lose even more weight.'”

They added that it can “sometimes suck because then I start thinking, ‘Well damn. What’d they think of my body before?'”

They concluded their post with:”Moral of the story, I am more than the shell for my soul that is my body and every day I fight to remind myself of that, so I’m asking you to please not remind me that that is all people see of me sometimes.”