Sailor Brinkley-Cook Has Been Struggling with 'Body Dysmorphia' and 'Eating Disorder Tendencies'
A post shared by Sailor (@sailorbrinkleycook) on May 24, 2020 at 1:55pm PDT
Sailor Brinkley-Cook says she's working through her body image struggles, including body dysmorphia and the remnants of her past eating disorder.
The 21-year-old model and daughter of Christie Brinkley opened up about her health in a lengthy Instagram post on Sunday.
"I’m so f—ing sick and tired of the photoshop 👏🏼," Brinkley-Cook wrote, quoting rapper Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE" before continuing in her own words: "I’ve been so down on myself recently. Crying about my cellulite, letting the fat on my body ruin my day, getting mad that I’m not as skinny as I once was."
"The body dysmorphia and left over eating disorder tendencies have been coming in strong," she continued. "As I come into myself as a young woman my body shifts and changes by the month, the 'control' I felt I once had over it has been completely stripped away from me. Hormones, emotions, growing pains."
The former Dancing with the Stars competitor admitted that when she's on Instagram, she compares herself to photos of girls "that look perfect"
"I compare myself, as if how someone on an app on my phone looks should directly correlate to how I feel about my body?" she wrote.
RELATED VIDEO: Christie Brinkley Shares Body-Positive Message with 1977 Bikini Pic That 'Caused a Stir'
Brinkley-Cook said that she's instead trying to focus on what her body can do.
"What I’ve learned is that I run every day. I go to the gym 6 times a week. I fuel my body with beautiful food. I am so f—ing LUCKY to have two legs and a healthy body that takes me through life," she wrote.
"I’m so tired of thinking anything that makes up ME is something to be ashamed of," Brinkley-Cook said, adding that, "as most 21st century girls would do, I’m putting this out there on Instagram."
"Declaring that I have cellulite, and a stomach that doesn’t always look 'pleasant' (whatever the f— that means) and I am 100% imperfect human," she said. "And I’m proud as hell of my body! If you’re out there hating on yourself, stop!! Appreciate yourself. You’re body is so magical. That’s all. Have a nice day. 😌."
Brinkley-Cook's candid post was applauded by many of her followers — including her half-sister, singer Alexa Ray Joel.
"A powerful message filled to the brim with transparency... and honoring your worth.?," wrote Joel, 34. "I’m proud of you, Splatooshka!!! Keep shining and keep speaking up... you’ve always been remarkably strong and candid.🌻🌼."
Brinkley-Cook responded to her half-sister's sweet comment, "I love you so much and miss you even more!! Come home!!"
In an interview with PEOPLE in 2017, Brinkley-Cook and Joel — whose dad is Billy Joel — both addressed dealing with body shaming online, which often involves being compared to their supermodel mom.
“If I’m just living my life and someone has something mean to say, that’s the thing that gets me,” said Brinkley-Cook, while Joel said that being compared to their mom, "is unhealthy. We’re all different. We all have different strengths.”
Brinkley-Cook added that despite being a model, she doesn't feel pressured to conform to a certain ideal.
“I’ve never had this stick skinny classic model body. But with the help of my mom, I came to the conclusion that this is who I am and this is my body,” she said. “I eat very healthy and I work out all the time. If you want to book me, this is my body. That’s it. I’m not going to do crazy diets.”
