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Demi Lovato says she 'accidentally lost weight' — without embracing 'diet culture'

The 28-year-old singer shares how she unintentionally shed the pounds and reveals how she looks today.
/ Source: TODAY

Demi Lovato is celebrating her recent weight loss — but the sense of pride she feels isn’t because she stuck to a strict meal plan or put in extra hours at the gym.

Instead, it’s because, despite past struggles with an eating disorder, the “OK Not to Be OK” singer says this transformation only happened after she ditched diet culture altogether.

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“Accidentally lost weight,” Lovato told her fans and followers on Instagram Monday. “I don’t count calories anymore. I don’t over exercise anymore. I don’t restrict or purge. And I especially I don’t live my life accordingly to the diet culture.. and I’ve actually lost weight.”

The 28-year-old shared that message alongside a brief video in which she tugged at the newly loose waistband of her pants to show the results.

“This is a different experience,” she added. “But I feel full. Not of food but of divine wisdom and cosmic guidance.” According to the caption, she’s also full of “peace, serenity, joy, and love.”

And that’s the important part for Lovato, not the number on a scale. After all, just over two months ago, she took to Instagram to celebrate something else about her body — simply loving it just the way it is.

“I used to genuinely believe recovery from an eating disorder wasn’t real,” she wrote at the time. “That everyone was faking or secretly relapsing behind closed doors. ... I’m so grateful that I can honestly say for the first time in my life - my dietitian looked at me and said ‘This is what eating disorder recovery looks like.’”

She paired that message with photos of her stretchmarks, which she chose to highlight with glitter paint rather than hide.

But in another post she shared on social media Monday, Lovato reminded her fans that, while it’s important that they accept themselves as they are, they should remember that what others share online might not reflect reality.

“How are teens supposed to learn to accept themselves (with) this sh--,” she wrote over a heavily filtered video of herself. Other messages imposed over the clip include, “These aren’t my real eyes. ... My skin is not this smooth. ... Wait do I need a smaller nose?!”

To do her part, Lovato plans to forgo the filters in the future.

“Thank God I’m realizing this now,” she added to the message. “And I’m sorry for using them (without) realizing how dangerous they were before.”