Ilona Maher Encourages Women to ‘Change the Dialogue’ Around Body Image

The Olympic athlete took a moment to remind her Instagram followers to be kind to themselves.

Ilona Maher / Eric McCandless/Getty Images

Ilona Maher let her 5.4 million Instagram followers in on a little secret yesterday: even she, an Olympic athlete, occasionally falls victim to self-doubt.

In a reel posted to the app on Thursday, Jan. 22, Maher opened up her post-gym car pep talk by acknowledging that “now that skinny is everywhere, thin is in and weight-loss drugs are being marketed to us nonstop,” she doesn’t want her followers to feel shame for “getting slightly influenced by all this rhetoric.”

She continued, “I don’t want you to feel bad about yourself. I know that it affects me, and I love my body—my body’s amazing. But even I get these thoughts of, ‘Oh, maybe I should lose a few pounds.’ And I do feel ashamed, I feel ashamed of myself for feeling it, but I think we also have to remember how powerful society is and how powerful the influence of social media can be, so it’s O.K. if you’re having these thoughts.”

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The 29-year-old Vermont native went on to assure her audience that she, her friends and her sisters have all experienced these self-doubts recently due to the regularity of weight loss drugs being pushed on social media. Maher then encouraged women to turn the message around. Rather than worrying about being as thin or skinny as possible, focus on feeling as strong as you can in your own body, she urged.

“I think we just have to change the dialogue,” she stated. “Be kind to yourself. It is hard to see all that and have all that information constantly floating through your brain saying ‘this is the right way to look.’”

Maher concluded her body-positive public service announcement by sharing that she is “doing what’s best to feel the best in [herself]” by eating right, lifting weights and attempting to tune out the noise.

The professional rugby player’s message clearly resonated with her followers, as many of them chimed in to the comments section to thank Maher for, once again, using her platform to share her positive and encouraging message.

“such an important nuance,” Lauren Chan wrote. “I love you and your takes, always 🙌🏼.”

“🔥🔥 I agree. This year, I’m working on being my favourite version on myself,” someone else shared.

“What a role model you are ❤️,” another user gushed.

“Yes!!!” cyclist Demi Vollering proclaimed. “Cheers to feeling the healthiest version of yourself an[d] being strong! That’s what we should chase! 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼🙏🏼❤️.”

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