If your Instagram tastes are like mine, your feed might be full of body transformation pictures, or incredibly honed fitness stars with abs of steel. Especially at this time of year when 'summer body' posts and bikini pics seem to flood my feed.
And while the fitness babes of Instagram a) Look amazing, so good on ya! and b) Get my utmost respect for their commitment to the gym, there are a fair few social media stars out there also keen to point out that those 'perfect' bikini body pictures shouldn't make you, the non-Insta-famous girl sitting on the sofa, feel bad about yourself.
Because let's be real, every body is a bikini body. And, while a quick scroll might make you stress about not having abs of steel, it's total BS. EVERYONE has days where they feel bloated, or strong, or skinny, or whatever. And it's completely normal. So take a look at the below, and stop stressing.
1. Anna Victoria
Fitness blogger Anna Victoria posted a pic of her stomach rolls to show they are totally normal, and that "not every angle is your best angle, and that's OK"
2. Planking for Pizza
Fitness blogger Jess, aka Planking for Pizza, took two before and after photos side by side to show how easy it to fake a body transformation on Instagram.
"You can show your best angles and hide your flaws, but at the end of the day what we choose to showcase is a reflection of ourselves. My body isn't perfect. I still have imperfections and flaws that I'm slowly learning to be comfortable with," she said.
3. Iskra Lawrence
Mega-babe Iskra Lawrence is always promoting body positivity on her Instagram account, and showed just easy it was to fake a 'thigh gap'.
"I'll be the first one to tell you pics are all about good lightening and angles" she wrote alongside the post. "Always remember social media's not real life...never let anyone else's pics make you feel insecure about yourself. "
4. Workoutbean
Workoutbean started the hashtag #30secondbeforeandafter to try and "show the power that images have and our ability to filter what we show the public".
"Yes, it's great to show the highlight reel when we've achieved our goals or have mornings abs to flex, but it's important to share the struggles too." she added.
Loads of other Instagrammers joined in.
5. Maeve Madden
Irish fitness star offered this 'reality check' to her followers - and shared that "Not every day am I rocking abs and feeling lean and awesome .. Hormones, bloat, water weight, food intolerances ibs , all result in days like this, which can last from 1 day to a week or longer".
6. Tiffany O'Brien
The blogger went viral a few weeks back for posting two side-by-side photos of her pre and post-bloating on Facebook. She took a photograph of her stomach when she first woke up, and then another one 12 hours later, just before she went to bed. And the difference is incredible.
"No I'm not 6 months pregnant. It's just my food baby," Tiffany wrote. "We are not all what we seem on social media. I thought I would share a bad day with you to show you nobody is "perfect" and it is ok to have an off day where your body just decides to not play ball," she added.
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