The Shining Lights of Lockdown: Instagram Accounts that are Bri…

Now more than ever, we are spending time looking at screens and scrolling through social media. While this is often portrayed negatively, some people have created accounts that are committed to providing inspiration and help to others.

I spoke virtually with Lucy and Iona – two people behind such accounts, and learnt about how and why they intend to help motivate and inspire others to stay happy and healthy, especially right now.

Lucy’s account focuses on positive habits and is a space to reassure people that not every day has to be a good day- and that is perfectly normal. Her honest stories depict her achievements however big or small, and, in the rawest way, share her feelings and motivation levels with her followers.

From demonstrating how and why she journals- noting the benefits she feels and the best places to start, to sharing basic stretches and workout motivation, her page is candidly open and captures the ‘real’ world that is often lost on social media sites such as Instagram.

“One of the main things that persuaded me to start my account was the support of people around me”, Lucy said. “People have often said to me that I am supportive, and a good listener and I should think about starting an account, and with the third lockdown and speaking to a lot of people who are struggling with this, plus the new year I thought what better time than the present.”

Iona, a sports student at university, focuses on body positivity, using her account to post workouts and healthy meals, as well as motivation to workout even though we are in lockdown and the drive to exercise may be slim.

“I had just turned 18 when I made my account – I wanted to lose some weight and had quite a lot of knowledge from studying sport and being on a netball team since I was eleven”, she told me. “I found on Instagram that most accounts were by people who were a lot older – between 25 and 35 and their workouts and images were not beginner and not motivating for people of my age and body type. I didn’t think that anyone would engage with my account or even want to know what I was doing, but I made basic cheap low-calorie recipes, posted workouts, posted some motivational posts and had really good feedback.”

Iona also reassures people that what you see on social media is not necessarily the truth. “Many pictures are photoshopped or taken from certain angles and are not an accurate representation of most people’s bodies, and this is something she aims to communicate through her posts that raise awareness of photoshop and modified images.”

“I hope for girls to embrace their bodies and help people lose weight if that is what they want to do, but that isn’t the main purpose of my account. I just want people to be healthy and happy. It is important for accounts like this to exist to show that not everyone is perfect- on my account I have days where I don’t eat healthy and I don’t feel perfect. I show that is normal to not train every day, it’s normal to not eat healthy every day and especially right now during lockdown it is important to share workouts that people can do, but also show that its ok if you don’t work out all the time.”

Like Iona, Lucy also aims to inspire and motivate people, but stresses the normality of having a bad day when you do not do everything you set out to. She said: “I hope that people will be inspired, motivated but also reassured and less overwhelmed.”

“The environment I really want to create is not the environment of everything is fine, but the environment of even if everything is not fine, it will be again soon. I like to reassure people and make things seem less overwhelming, especially right now.”

I asked them both what three pieces of advice they would give to someone who is looking to start ‘positive’ accounts like theirs. Lucy said:

Just do it – you will quickly feel a sense of accomplishment for yourself.

Don’t worry about what other people might think – I was quite scared about this due to starting a new job with people who don’t know me on that level, but trust me people will love it and when you get messages from people saying what they enjoy about it that becomes clear.

It doesn’t have to be in one go – I have taken mine quite slow because it can be quite overwhelming. You don’t have to have thousands of posts- it can be tailored to you and that is lovely.

Iona said:

Don’t be shy – make the account. Everyone starts with 0 followers and must start somewhere.

Engage with others! Message other accounts that are similar and ask them what they did, what apps they use, how they promote things.

People will love your content no matter what you post. I was so nervous posting before and after pictures, but everyday I get 2 or 3 people messaging me telling me they saved one of my workouts or saved and tried a recipe, that they love my account. Honestly just be yourself like I have.

Despite having different overarching themes to their accounts, something that both Lucy and Iona want to portray to their followers is reality – that not everyday will be great and that is ok. Both wish to inspire others to be happy and as physically and mentally healthy as they can be, which they appear to be doing successfully through the messages of support and gratitude they get from their followers.

You can find Iona and Lucy’s accounts on Instagram: @iona_fitness_ and @lucywithlove._