Scarlett Moffatt has opened up about the weight loss DVD that she released in 2016, which saw her drop a significant amount of weight - and her words are wonderful and exactly what people need to hear right now.
"I slowly realised it was quite detrimental to my mental health," the Gogglebox star, 30, said in a new interview on Frankie Bridge's Open Mind podcast. She went on to slam the extreme diet DVD as "the worst thing I've ever done".
Why is this so important for us to hear? For many reasons, let me list a few: 1. Because these celebrity weight loss DVDs shouldn't exist anymore, they are damaging; 2. These DVDs pretend that the celebrities lost the weight through doing the exercises in the DVD, when actually, they are severely restricting their diet (Scarlett revealed that she was following a brutal 700-calorie diet per day); 3. It's proof that thinness does not equal happiness.
Scarlett has opened up about her infamous weight loss DVD in a new interview
Read: Scarlett Moffatt on her dramatic weight loss and why she's happier now she's a size 12
In news that makes me even happier, Scarlett has deleted all of her before and after pictures that documented the weight loss transformation. "Not only were they bad for my peace of mind, it wasn't really good for other people because now I look like my before picture again," she said.
This is important. Before and after weight loss pictures are so triggering - they are nearly ALWAYS accompanied by an incredibly positive caption and heaps of praise from subsequent admirers, thus reinforcing the message that a smaller body = better.
But it's just not true. Through Scarlett's own admission, she was unhappier than ever, and it sacrificed her mental health. How is that more important than being thin? It's not.
The TV personality is now actively discouraging people from buying the DVD
Scarlett also revealed that she deliberately gained weight to discredit the DVD and discourage anyone for purchasing it. "I sort of rebelled against it because I just didn't like how it happened and I just wasn't for it anymore," she said.
Read: Molly Mae reveals she's 'happier than ever' after gaining weight since Love Island
"I purposefully started putting weight on. I was sort of like, 'If I get big again, it can't get brought up'. I can't have this stigma attached to me about this DVD and people will stop buying it."
The TV personality spoke about the methods used to lose weight, and stressed that it was not solely down to completing the exercises in the DVD - controlling and restricting her diet played a big part.
"I think people thought I had been walking and rambling up mountains for six months but it wasn't. I genuinely did just do those exercises but obviously I had to cut out a lot of food from what I was normally eating," she said.
"I think now that is what I want to try to say to people - 'please don't think that you can just own this DVD and then instantly you can lose that amount of weight'. It is a lot of pressure and it is a lot of work".
And life is too short, right?! Let's work on self-acceptance instead.
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