The lovely Hilary Duff is all kinds of honest about her body image

Two weeks ago, Hilary Duff posted a selfie on Instagram, proudly flaunting her bikini body and makeup-free face. Paired with the pic, she included the hashtags #moms, #westillgotit, and #loveyourbod. It was a small, but rad gesture, encouraging all women of all body types to embrace their natural bodies and love their beautiful selves.

The selfie went totally viral, appearing across every social media channel and website. Of course, when a celebrity photo goes viral, the critics come out—and some of those critics were skeptical of the former Disney star’s reasoning behind that bikini selfie. On Monday, Hilary went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and explained the photo’s context. She told Ellen, “I’ve never done anything like that before. My Instagram page is pretty tame . . . I spent all weekend in a bikini and I was feeling pretty good. Just like everybody else, usually I’m not feeling so good. I [have a] love-hate relationship with my body.”

Hilary’s honesty is not only refreshing, but it’s SO relatable. Sometimes we wake up in the morning and give all our jeans the stink-eye. And sometime we feel like the unconquerable goddesses we truly are. Ultimately, it’s a relief to hear even celebrities feel the same anxiety about their bodies. The important thing, though, is to appreciate your body and everything it’s given you, what it’s capable of. Hilary added of the photo, “I felt strong and powerful and I wanted to inspire other women.”

Hil’s honesty trail doesn’t stop there. With her new show Younger premiering (yesterday!), she has been on a roll, not only promoting the show, but sharing really sage, poignant life advice. In an interview with VH1, Hilary tells her fans, “Don’t care so much about what everybody thinks. You’re gonna be alright, you’re cool. I think a lot of people have so many insecurities, and I definitely did.” I SO wish I heard these words in high-school.

Once again, Hilary Duff shows us just how much she gets it. How, even after starring in two TV shows and a bunch of movies, and releasing an album (with another on the way!), she still feels pressure to be perfect, she still has insecurities and she still isn’t afraid to give herself a little shout-out when she’s feeling good.

Image via Instagram