Danielle Brooks Credits Lizzo for Helping Her Feel More Confident In Her Postpartum Body

You might have heard that Lizzo recently sparked some controversy after sharing that she did a 10-day smoothie cleanse to "reset" her stomach following a trip to Mexico. Even though she said she felt "amazing" after the cleanse, the singer received some backlash from people who felt that her posts promoted unhealthy messages about body image.

Later, the singer responded to the criticism by explaining that she's still in the process of finding a healthy balance and is working hard to mend her relationship with food and body image. Most of all, Lizzo said she wanted her fans to know that she is human and entitled to her own journey.

While some are still on the fence about Lizzo's smoothie cleanse, actress Danielle Brooks came to the singer's defense. In a heartfelt Instagram post, Brooks said that Lizzo's vulnerability gave her the courage to talk about how she's struggled with body image since becoming a mom.

"As someone who coined the phrase #voiceofthecurves I've muted my voice for a few months now out of shame," Brooks, who gave birth to her daughter Freeya in November 2019, wrote alongside a sensual black and white photo of herself. "I felt shameful of gaining weight. Even though I brought a whole human into the world, I still felt shameful because I wasn't able to maintain my normal body weight post-pregnancy."

Brooks said that she initially remained "quiet" on social media in the hope that she'd reach a point where she could "post that snatch back photo like so many celebrities miraculously do" after having a baby. "But that's not my story," she continued in her post.

Truth is, plenty of people don't have a "miraculous snap-back" photo to post on Instagram after giving birth. In fact, there are countless people who use social media specifically to remind others that losing baby weight takes time and that it's important to embrace the stretch marks, loose skin, and other natural and normal physical changes that take place after giving birth. (

But it's also true that there's a lot of hype and praise for those who do "snap back" after pregnancy, especially celebrities. (See: Beyoncé, Kate Middleton, Chrissy Teigen, and Ciara, to name a few.) When these transformations make headlines and are glorified on social media, it can be triggering for some people, especially those who might already feel insecure about their own post-baby body.

As for Brooks, she admitted in her post that she's tried "all kinds of diets [and] cleanses" in her postpartum journey — not because she doesn't love herself, she wrote, but because she does love herself, her body, and her mind, and she's trying to take care of herself.

"Just like Lizzo, and so many other 'fat' girls we should be allowed to make healthy choices publicly without being made to feel like frauds for trying to be healthy," Brooks continued in her post. "I feel it's important to share the journey, as a reminder that we are not alone, we ain't always got it together, and that we are ALL works in progress." (

Most importantly, Brooks wants people to know that weight loss, post-baby or not, isn't linear and that you're allowed to make mistakes along the way. "It's okay showing the in-between of growth," she wrote, concluding her post. "You ain't always gotta have it all the way together."