Influencer loses 70,000 followers after she stops posting bikini pictures

Promoting body positivity on Instagram is basically an industry in itself now.

Lots of users on the image sharing site have taken unique measures to shame those who would dare castigate someone else for their size.

They range from showing why stretch marks don't matter to redefining the "before and after" picture.

Despite this trend there are still thousands of images on the site of women posing in bikinis.

With this in mind, one fitness blogger decided to take a drastic step to promote body positivity.

Sophie Gray has vowed to never post a picture of herself in a bikini again as she deemed them "harmful" to others.

In a post, where he body has been obscured she also added that, "pizza and cookies are f***ing delicious."

This doesn't mean that she has completely abandoned her healthy lifestyle – she continues to work out and have a balanced diet.

Her new approach to Instagram has lead to a loss of a different kind though.

Since announcing that she will no longer be posting bikini pictures her followers have dropped from 430,000 to 360,000

However she has now revealed that she is far more happier now.

The Daily Mail quote her saying:

Everything I did revolved around those photos.

I was constantly worrying about my body image because my "worth" through this channel depended on it.

I was the one behind the account for three years.

I saw what images performed better. I saw what people wanted to see - fitter, thinner, more defined and perfect.

She has since spoken about how she has suffered from anxiety and panic attacks and is now using her account to document her struggles.

Sophie has since seen her followers jump back up to 374,000 but her new approach doesn't look like it is going to go anywhere.

Recently she shared a post about a donut she had for breakfast, which is something that we can all get behind.

Gray now runs her website Way of Gray full-time which she uses to spread her unique brand of positivity.

People quote her as saying:

I want people to be stoked to be who they are. 

I want them to be proud of themselves and know, on the deepest level, that they’re deserving of love and acceptance, exactly as they are.