Don’t compare yourself to something that doesn’t exist (Picture: Danae Mercer)

If your Instagram feed was to be believed, everyone would have ‘perfect’ bodies with no wobbly bits or stretchmarks or rolls.

In our heads, we know that’s not true, but it’s easy to get sucked in when you see these images.

Model Danae Mercer, who lives in Dubai, has debunked the myth that people look like that when they’re going about their daily business, showing how bikini pictures are staged to create a specific look.

Danae, who has more than two million followers on social media, posted a series of images on Instagram and TikTok, comparing the way she looks in a ‘relaxed’ state to how she looks when poses and lighting tricks are used.

‘Here’s how influencers take BEACH PHOTOS – But also, just another reason to not compare your lovely, sun-bathing, swimsuit-wearing self to stuff you see online,’ she wrote in the caption.

‘Because my gosh so much of it is POSED. Popped. Angled and perfected. And real life beach days are a whole lot more fun than that.’

I’d rather breathe, thanks (Picture: Danae Mercer)

In the first pose, Danae is laying on her front, but bends her knee towards the camera and engages her core to enhance her abs and make her look slimmer.