American singer Demi Lovato has been open about her struggles with weight, fighting an eating disorder, and trying to stay body-positive. But the reality is that it is not easy to retain a body-positive attitude with all the challenges around. Today, we will take a look into Demi Lovato’s weight gain experience.
The American singer and actress has been a star since she was only 16 years old. And like many young actors and musicians, she had to live under the relentless scrutiny of the public and press. And that led to her developing body dysmorphia.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened to her.
Reader's Roadmap
Get To Know Demi
Born in August 1992 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Demi is the daughter of Dianna De La Garza and Patrick Lovato. As a result, she has Mexican, English, and Irish ancestry. Demi has an older sister named Dallas Lovato and a young half-sister named Madison De La Garza.
She was homeschooled as a child because of her acting and singing career. For a brief period, she attended public school. Growing up, Lovato demonstrated an interest in music and acting. It was her passion for performing that led Demi to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.
She was only 10 years old when she landed a role in the children’s television series Barney & Friends. It was that experience that kick-started her career in Hollywood.
Then, in 2008, she gained even more recognition because of her role as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel movie Camp Rock. In that movie, she appeared alongside the Jonas Brothers. The movie propelled Lovato into the spotlight and established her as a talented young actress.
On the heels of her acting success, Demi began a music career. In 2008, she released her debut studio album, called Don’t Forget. It received positive reviews and peaked at Number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her second album, Here We Go Again, peaked at Number 1 on the Billboard 200.
Demi continues to evolve as an artist, using her music, acting career, and personal experience to inspire others. Her talent and authenticity have earned a dedicated fan base. She has also been a judge on the reality singing competition The X Factor. She joined in the second season alongside Britney Spears and earned a reputation for her brutal honesty.
Nowadays, she is an advocate for mental health awareness, having openly discussed her struggles with bipolar disorder, addiction, body dysmorphia, self-harm, and everything in between.
Struggling With Weight Throughout Her Life
Demi has struggled with weight throughout her entire life. But in 2011, things drastically changed. She was diagnosed with a mood disorder and bulimia. Before that, Demi was hiding her pain for years and used self-medicating techniques like alcohol and controlled substances.
But she went into treatment for her eating disorder, gaining 30 pounds in the process. And while the weight gain was much needed, she became the target of hateful comments. Here is also an interesting fact: X Factor boss Simon Cowell wanted her to lose 20 pounds before returning to the show in 2013.
Her bulimia placed her life at risk and caused short-term damage to her voice. Yet, her struggles were far from over. Over the next seven years, she continued battling with eating disorders.
She said, “I think that’s something in our society we get caught up in diet culture. Every commercial on TV is either about a weight loss pill or piece of fitness equipment or it’s all food-based”.
It was in 2018 that she revealed that she had stopped dieting and gained weight. And she felt healthier and happier with herself.
Why Did She Gain Weight?
In 2022, Demi Lovato’s weight gain subject became trendy again. The pop sensation has gone through a lot in her life. Her body changed from a lean Disney girl to an unhealthy pop singer, and that body transformation has been a topic for her fans and audience to talk about.
In 2022, she ballooned to 181 pounds, gaining 60 pounds from the previous year. But Demi admitted she was on a weight gain journey.
In her YouTube Documentary, Simply Complicated, she talked about her eating disorder struggles.
She said, “The less I have to think about food, the easier is to go about having a normal life and I don’t want to let anybody down so when I do have moments when I slip up, I feel very ashamed. And when I feel lonely, my heart feels hungry and I end up bingeing”.
She would soon find herself on a spiraling path into a deep abyss of unhealthy binge eating which led to her gaining significant weight. Using food and stress eating is never a good way to cope with anxiety and traumas.
Truth be told, Demi has always been a foodie. But using food as a way to escape made matters much worse.
Speaking On Weight Loss And Weight Gain
As an eating disorder survivor, Demi is definitely one who should speak up about recovery and against diet culture.
At one point, she took to Instagram stories to post a reminder that comments about weight can have a negative effect.
She wrote, “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. 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”.
Shortly before that, she came out as a non-binary and wanted to use they/them pronouns. She has taken a stand against the way the media portrays bodies, and has spoken publicly about the chronic stress of it.
In another slide, she continued, “Does it feel great? Yeah, sometimes. 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.’ But it can also sometimes suck because then I start thinking ‘Well, damn. What’d they think of my body before?”
She ended up saying, “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”.
Trying To Get Into Shape
Demi recently decided to make a comeback and get herself back in shape. Lovato admitted to going to the gym several times per day. She talked on an episode of model Ashley Graham’s Pretty Big Deal podcast.
In that podcast, she shared how she’d eat a meal and then go work out. But it didn’t work out when she focused mainly on it.
Demi found a new way to succeed. She said, “I’ve stopped counting calories. I no longer over-exercise. I don’t limit or eliminate anything. And I, in particular, don’t live my life according to diet culture…and I’ve really lost weight as a result”.
Demi has never shied away from speaking up about her rehabilitation and against diet culture. She is one of the loudest advocates of how diet culture impacts mental health. As an eating disorder victim, Demi is certainly one you should listen to.
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