Make This The Year You Follow Instagram Influencers Who Look Like You

LOADING ERROR LOADING Two years ago, De-Grace Omari looked at her Instagram feed and realized something unnerving: All the influencers and models she followed were thin and either white women or light-skinned women of color. “When you continuously look at certain things it will become the norm, so if you change what you look at, your views on those things changes, too.” Omari came to a savvy conclusion about her social media intake: “I wasn’t going to sacrifice my mental health or punish myself by doing an intense ‘makeover’ to try and look like my ‘faves’ when I could just change what I look at instead.” “Far too many people think that there is something wrong with their appearance, but in truth, there is something wrong with the cultural paradigm of perfection that we’ve been sold.” - Andrea Wachter, a psychotherapist and author of “Getting Over Overeating for Teens” In the age of “fitspiration” and diet-centric content, reevaluating who you follow like Omari did can do wonders for your self-esteem and body image, said Andrea Wachter, a psychotherapist and author of “Getting Over Overeating for Teens.” “Seeing and following people who look like you helps create feelings of acceptance and connectedness,” she told HuffPost. Drazen_ via Getty Images “Seeing and following people who look like you helps create feelings of acceptance and connectedness,” psychotherapist Andrea Wachter said. “I think all people can benefit from throwing out the idea of ‘thinspiration’ and just start following people who make them feel like they can also become their best selves,” she said. “I think it’s important to be conscious while using Instagram especially with the rise of social media and influencers,” she said.