Fitness blogger reveals truth behind bikini pictures in ‘honest’ side-by-side comparison

'Put your hand up if your thighs touch when you sit down, keep your hand up if you've ever looked at those goddesses on Instagram & wondered why theirs don't'

(Instagram @Chessieking)

A British blogger is on a mission to tell the world that people can make themselves look slimmer by simply sucking in their stomachs and standing up straighter.

Who knew?

24-year-old Instagrammer Chessie King is rebelling against the idealised aesthetic that saturates most people’s social feeds this time of year – think slim pins, toned tums and popsicle-perfect pouts.

In a series of candid side-by-side Instagram shots, the fitness influencer shared a string of pictures - taken seconds apart - showing how easy it is to “fool” followers into thinking that you look a certain way on the platform.

She explained to Mail Online how she has been guilty in the past of editing her photographs to make her legs appear thinner and her breasts larger.

King, who has struggled with body image previously, insists that Instagram is one of the main reasons that people want to look “perfect” in a bikini.

By sharing the images, the London-based blogger hopes to promote body confidence and discourage her followers from feeling like they need to keep up with the unrealistic standards perpetuated by fellow Instagrammers.

In one post, King urged her 231,000 followers to embrace their bellies and “give it a little jiggle”, writing that she was able to change the appearance of her body in “two seconds” in another.

Photo manipulation apps such as Facetune and Make Me Thin (yes, that’s a real app) enable users to completely change their appearance.

From defined cheekbones to blemish-free skin, your body is a canvas and your iPhone is the digitally enhancing paintbrush.

But King isn’t the only fitness blogger aiming to bring a little transparency to the platform.

A cachophony of fellow popular Instagrammers - such as Tally Rye and Zanna Van Dijk - are shedding light on the idealised and highly edited images that they could post.

Whilst a little body positivity is no bad thing, particularly amidst a sea of #thinspo bikini shots that have clearly been highly edited and manipulated, the idea that you sticking your bottom out makes it look bigger is hardly revolutionary.