Brittani Lancaster: A Content Creator Passionate About Body Confidence and Fashion
Trigger warning: This article talks about eating disorders. Call or text (800)931-2237 for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)’s hotline. Text “NEDA” to 741741 in crisis situations to be connected with a trained Helpline volunteer.
Brittani Lancaster didn’t expect to go viral. On February 8th, 2020, Brittani was attending a sorority dance when she realized that day would become significant for another reason. Though gaining traction overnight happens more nowadays, and especially on TikTok, Brittani was shocked to see how many people had seen a video she had recorded of herself dancing in a silky, pink dress. The caption of the video read “Today marks 3.5 years of recovery from my eating disorder! You are beautiful. #bodypositive”
PHOTO by DEBBIE LANCASTER
The success of the video inspired Brittani to continue posting about her experiences with eating disorder recovery and body confidence in hopes of helping others with similar experiences. It has been over a year now since Brittani opened up to the world about her personal struggles with eating disorders, and she has since amassed over 900k followers on TikTok, started a YouTube channel, and has continued to spread positivity and kindness through her Instagram.
“I just try to make content that helps people realize that they don't have to change themselves at all and that they're wonderfully made,” Brittani says, “I am just sharing my story. I am just sharing my experiences.”
This has been Brittani’s goal from day one as a content creator: to be seen as a helping hand, as a friend, rather than a medical professional. She believes there’s power in sharing our stories. Communicating the lessons she has learned in life in a transparent manner, whether it’s through affirmations or realistic “what I eat in a day” videos, Brittani continues to grow a community of like-minded individuals, who are motivated to improve their own relationship with food and their own bodies.
“I just try to make content that helps people realize that they don't have to change themselves at all and that they're wonderfully made,” Brittani says, “I am just sharing my story. I am just sharing my experiences.”
With a passion for advocating for body confidence and eating disorder awareness, Brittani is often asked why she didn’t become a nutritionist, a psychologist, or an eating disorder therapist. While the questions are complimentary, Brittani found that these professions do not coincide with her intellectual passion. She graduated last June from the University of Oregon, with a major in advertising and a minor in business administration. Beyond her projects as a content creator, she also works at Evelyn and Bobbie, a company that focuses on creating comfortable undergarments for all body types. Through her job, Brittani found a way to combine both her intellectual and personal passions, advocating for inclusivity in fashion marketing.
In addition, having income security from this 9-5 allows her to view social media as a hobby, an incredibly rewarding “passion project,” rather than a stressful career.
Brittani’s passion and vulnerability have proven to incite compassion and confidence in her followers, both towards her and towards themselves. “I get comments or DMs from people that say ‘I ate today because of you or your videos, [you] finally [encouraged] me to tell my family that I've been struggling, or to seek professional help,” Brittani shares, “There are no words to describe the weight of that.”
Her content discusses her experience recovering from eating disorders and how a focus on rebuilding inner confidence has led her to have a more nuanced, healthier relationship with food. “Intuitive eating has honestly saved my life,” Brittani says, “I actually live stress-free, and I don't worry about food anymore, because of intuitive eating.” For Brittani, intuitive eating means disregarding every diet culture rule you’ve ever heard and actually listening to your body. It sounds fairly straightforward, but practicing intuitive eating can be easier said than done, especially when one has disordered eating. It takes time, practice, and patience to become in tune with your body.
Brittani’s Tips for Improving Your Relationship With Food (as shared on her “Balance Is Key” podcast):
Reminding yourself “it will be there tomorrow”
“When I struggled with binge eating disorder, I used to eat an entire bag of cookies because I thought, oh, tomorrow I'm not going to eat any cookies. But when I would have one cookie and say, ‘hey, that whole bag of cookies will still be there tomorrow if I want another one.’ Then I was like, ‘oh, I'm not really craving another cookie.’ I just felt like I should eat all of them. And so I love that saying as it definitely helps me.”
Asking yourself out loud “what sounds good right now?”
“When my body would send me hunger signals… I would ask myself [this] out loud because when I first began intuitive eating it was very helpful for me to process what I was craving out loud so that I could also hear myself say, ‘Oh, I’m really craving a turkey sandwich for lunch,’ or ‘I’m really craving spaghetti for dinner.’
The phrase also helped Brittani overcome her binge eating disorder because asking herself this question and honoring her own answer would lead to satisfaction with food, which in turn stopped her from bingeing at night.
“I never feel dissatisfied or deprived of anything because I listen to my body.”
Give yourself time.
“I always encourage people to give [themselves] time and remember that recovery is not going to happen in one day. It's not going to happen overnight. It is a journey. And don't compare your day one to someone's day 365, because those are going to look like complete different journeys. If things just came easy to people, we wouldn't learn how to appreciate them. Once you do get there or you achieve your goal or you achieve your dream, it's the best feeling in the world because you know how much hard work went into achieving that.”
Seek professional help.
“If somebody wants to start eating disorder recovery or if they feel that they just have disordered eating, they don't have the best relationship with food, maybe it's not an eating disorder, but they just [don’t have] the healthiest relationship with food, I always encourage people to seek professional help because I think that was what really, really helped me.”
PHOTO by SIERRA ROSE
Feeling more at peace about one's body also requires augmented awareness that the world around us, especially the beauty and fashion industries, profit off of our insecurities; these are the same industries that all instill these insecurities in us. After studying and working in marketing and advertising, as well as experiencing the insecurities many of us feel, Brittani hopes to see less photo editing across the board. Instead of erasing cellulite and pimples, she wants to see these imperfections, just normal human features in advertising campaigns.
“Social media doesn't display real life because it [doesn’t show] real images,” she says, “but it affects real life because young people are going on social media and thinking that [the images and videos they’re seeing are] real.”
It’s true. Besides, one doesn’t see disclaimers below pictures explaining the many ways said images were edited. They’re meant to be perceived as an unaltered, unfiltered reality.
Brittani also believes there should be more inclusivity in terms of sizes throughout the fashion industry. Evelyn and Bobbie, for example, offer two sets of sizes. The first set is a size zero to fourteen, meaning it can fit a body from zero to 14; the second set fits sizes 16 to 24. While this size range is more inclusive than most, the company is still looking to expand past size 24 in order to be more inclusive. Brittani believes, “You can always create more inclusivity.”
And that’s just what she’s been doing. Whether it’s at work or in her personal life, Brittani is encouraging people to take steps towards recovery and a more balanced lifestyle. But there’s only so much of herself that Brittani can share in a 60 second TikTok video, which is why she began her podcast, Balance is Key, at the beginning of this year.
“It helps me interact with everyone more and to go more into my personal life and share my experiences,” she explains of the podcast’s intention.
On her podcast, Brittani expands on complex topics such as confidence, comparison, and believing in oneself, always with an air of positivity and honesty. While her TikTok content tends to focus on eating disorder recovery and body confidence, Brittani wants her podcast to cover all aspects of her life. In episode 6, “When you don’t know what you want to do with your life,” she discusses a feeling many of us have but don’t talk about enough: uncertainty. She shares her experience going to college, how she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, and what she’s learned after sticking to the subjects that made her happy.
“We get one go at this life, so why would you want to think that you didn't explore all the possibilities in your life because of what you felt the world was telling you to do,” she remarks during this episode. In her case, this meant majoring in advertising instead of business. This decision allowed Brittani to focus on the creative side of business, which is ultimately where she found that she thrives.
These last few years, more and more content creators have focused their platforms on mental health and the pursuit of wellness, fueling much-needed conversations. Brittani Lancaster has championed the art of being vulnerable and optimistic and plans to continue doing so throughout her social media platforms.
“Helping people is really what keeps me going,” Brittani reflects.
The best part? It’s a two-way street. Helping others feel more at peace with food and their bodies has helped Brittani as well. She’s experienced a stronger recovery as a result of sharing her story and has found comfort in creating content about topics that used to control her life. Brittani Lancaster is here to show you that all you need is a story—your story—and the courage to share it in order to make a difference.
Resources for people with eating disorders:
The National Eating Disorders Association is the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals and fam
@covid19eatingsupport is a Health at Every Size based community offering virtual meal support
The Intuitive Eating Workbook for Teens: A Non-Diet, Body Positive Approach to Building a Healthy Relationship with Food is a non-diet, body-positive workbook for teens encouraging you to listen to your body’s wisdom, break out of diet mentality, and learn to fully enjoy food.
STORY ANA SOFIA ERATH
PHOTOS BRITTANI LANCASTER