Ever find yourself going down a rabbit hole on Instagram? Scrolling through so many seemingly perfect people? Getting caught up in #fitspo hashtags? Wondering why you don’t look as great as these people do?

This is actually a completely normal phenomenon. According to a study presented at an annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science in San Francisco, people who used social media to compare themselves to others who they thought were “better than them” were more likely to be depressed.

The thing is, a lot of what we see on Instagram isn’t real. That is, people don’t post bad photos of themselves, or talk about the bad stuff going on in their life. We only ever see the good, and the most flattering angles. That was made apparent by one Sports Illustrated model.

When you look at Kate Wasley’s Instagram, you might wonder what she knows about looking bad. The gorgeous plus-size Australia-based model is showing off her amazing swimsuit bod in photo after photo.

Well, until she posted a video clip demonstrating how easy it is to edit a photo to make it look better—and so far from actual reality.

“It takes so little time to alter a photo & so little time to compare yourself to the altered reality we constantly see on Instagram,” she began in her caption. “It might be photoshop, it might be a pose, it might be that the person [you’re] comparing yourself to is a completely different build & body type to you.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

It takes so little time to alter a photo & so little time to compare yourself to the altered reality we constantly see on Instagram. It might be photoshop, it might be a pose, it might be that the person your comparing yourself to is a completely different build &body type to you. When you compare yourself to someone online you’re probably thinking of yourself at your worst & you’re comparing that to someone’s best fragments of their life that they choose to share with the world. Everyone compares them selves in one way or another but so often it isn’t a fair fight. Instagram isn’t real life

A post shared by Kate Wasley (@katewas_) on Oct 29, 2018 at 1:10am PDT

What a reality check! The clip shows Wasley editing everything from her back to her face, arms, legs, and butt. She thins out everything she wants to be smaller (and plumps up everything she wants to be plumper, for that matter), plus blasts away blemishes and cellulite with just the click of a button.

The clip goes to show just how quickly you can change your entire body composition and enhance your beauty with some simple online tools. It’s a solid reminder to take everything you see on Instagram with a grain of salt—especially when you notice you start to feel badly about yourself.

“When you compare yourself to someone online you’re probably thinking of yourself at your worst & you’re comparing that to someone’s best fragments of their life that they choose to share with the world,” Wasley writes. “Everyone compares them selves in one way or another but so often it isn’t a fair fight. Instagram isn’t real life.”

To date, the post has more than 20,000 likes and has been viewed almost 200,000 times. Her followers were absolutely floored by her transparency.

“This is perfect truth! Thanks for your honesty and bravery!” someone wrote.

“Our body positivity and realness about these issues all women struggle with is meaningful and makes a difference. You’ve helped me so much with embracing my confidence and self-worth,” another follower wrote.

What a reality check! Have you ever compared yourself to someone on Instagram? What do you think of this model’s thoughts on how “filtered” Instagram can be?